MORAL  EDUCATION 

IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

•j*  s*  ^>  at  sai 

ENGLEMAN 


MORAL  EDUCATION  IN 
SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

BY 

J.  O.  ENGLEMAN,  A.M. 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  SCHOOLS,   DECATUR,   ILLINOIS 

FORMERLY    PRINCIPAL    OF    THE    TRAINING    SCHOOL    DEPARTMENT    OF    THB 

INDIANA     STATE     NORMAL     SCHOOL,     TERRE     HAUTE,     INDIANA 

AND    STATE    INSTITUTE    CONDUCTOR    AND    HEAD    OF 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION,   STATE 

NORMAL     SCHOOL,     LA     CROSSE 

WISCONSIN 


0V    TTOAA.'     d\\OL    7TO\V 


BENJ.    H.   SANBORN   &   CO. 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK  BOSTON 

1920 


COPYRIGHT,  1918, 

:BENJ.  H.  SANBORN  &  co. 


®0  tttg  totft  * 
ANNA  ULEN  ENGLEMAN 

TO    WHOSE    INTELLIGENT    COUNSEL,    SYMPATHETIC    APPRECIATION 
AND    SPIRIT    OF    SACRIFICE    I    HAVE    BEEN    UNDER    CON- 
TINUOUS   OBLIGATION    FOR    TWENTY    YEARS 


571739 


PREFACE 

THOUGH  there  is  universal  agreement  that  moral  educa- 
tion is  the  supreme  objective  in  public-school  work,  the 
literature  dealing  with  this  aspect  of  the  work  is  not  very 
extensive.  Of  the  few  books  that  have  been  written, 
the  writer  has  not  seen  one  that  undertakes  to  analyze 
the  possibilities  for  moral  instruction  or  training  in  the 
everyday  activities  of  the  school.  It  seemed  to  the  writer, 
therefore,  that  there  is  a  distinct  place  for  such  a  book  in 
teachers'  reading  circles  and  in  normal  school  and  other 
courses  for  teacher-training. 

The  writing  of  this  book  was  undertaken,  however, 
with  a  full  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  say- 
ing anything  helpful  to  teachers  or  parents  who  are  con- 
cerned with  the  problem  of  character-building  in  school 
and  home.  No  claim  is  made  for  the  discovery  of  any 
specifics,  or  any  royal  roads  to  the  desired  goal.  Every 
child  presents  a  new  problem.  Individual  differences 
among  children  are  so  numerous  that  successful  dealing 
with  one  is  by  no  means  a  guarantee  of  success  in  dealing 
with  another.  Endless  study,  tact,  sympathy,  and  char- 
ity are  demanded  of  every  teacher  who  would  direct,  guide, 
lead,  or  assist  a  child  into  the  moral  life  which  should  be  his. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  more  elements  of  likeness 
than  of  difference  among  children.  On  the  side  of  inherit- 
ance they  all  have  instincts,  impulses,  and  a  psycho- 
physical  organism  attuned  to  a  world  of  stimuli  to  which 
they  must  respond.  In  a  given  school  they  find  those 
stimuli  in  the  teacher,  their  classmates,  their  books  and 
lessons.  The  character  of  the  response  they  make  from 


vi  PREFACE 

day  to  day,  and  hence  the  character  of  the  ideas,  ideals, 
and  habits  they  gradually  build  up  in  their  own  jives,  is 
dependent,  in  a  large  measure,  upon  the  point  of  view,  the 
attitude,  and  the  vision  of  the  teacher.  It  was  with  this 
conviction  and  its  attendant  hope  that  within  the  book 
here  submitted  may  be  found  something  that  will  modify 
in  helpful  ways  the  attitude,  the  point  of  view,  and  the 
vision  of  teachers,  that  this  book  was  written. 

The  writer's  long  experience  as  a  teacher  in  public 
schools,  normal  schools,  and  Sunday  schools;  his  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  the  work  of  hundreds  of  teachers  in 
several  states;  and  his  more  immediate  concern  for  the 
moral  growth  of  his  own  boys  and  girls  —  afford  the  back- 
ground for  the  book,  nearly  every  page  of  which  mirrors 
some  of  these  experiences. 

While  appropriate  credit  is  given  to  authorities  con- 
sulted and  quotations  used,  it  is  impossible  to  acknowledge 
the  extent  of  the  help  that  has  come  from  twenty  years 
of  contact  with  teachers,  ministers,  and  books.  The 
writer  is  under  an  especial  debt  of  gratitude  to  Dr.  J.  W. 
McDonald  for  encouragement  and  valuable  suggestions 
given  him  during  the  writing  of  the  manuscript. 

J.  O.  E. 

DECATUR,  ILLINOIS 
August,  1918 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION   .  I 

Revival  of  interest  in  moral  education.  Cooperation 
of  social  forces  necessary.  The  Sunday  school's  lim- 
itations. Reciprocity  of  church  and  public  schools. 
The  new  meaning  of  correlation.  The  point  of  view 
of  the  whole  book.  Its  presupposition.  Questions 
and  suggestions.  References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  II 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL II 

Bishop  Huntington  quoted.  Ideals  of  antiquity. 
Formal  discipline,  knowledge,  citizenship,  utilitarian- 
ism as  ideals.  The  Herbartians'  view.  Any  modern 
aim  must  be  composite  to  be  adequate.  Importance 
of  character-building  as  an  aim.  Intellectual  results 
that  can  be  measured  qualitatively  and  quantitatively. 
Where  scientific  tests  are  still  inapplicable.  Impor- 
tance of  the  parent's  point  of  view.  The  teaching  of 
religion  not  in  place  in  public  schools.  France's  expe- 
rience cited.  Questions  and  suggestions.  References 
for  further  reading. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION      . 

Principles  related  to  perception,  formation  of  concepts, 
memorizing,  judgment,  and  reasoning  all  involved. 
Modern  theory  of  emotional  life  a  factor.  The  James- 
Lange  theory  quoted.  Altruistic  versus  egoistic  feel- 


22 


viii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ings.  Practical  methods  of  developing  altruism. 
The  place  of  instinct  in  moral  training.  Establishing 
habits  of  a  moral  sort  the  task  of  parent  and  teacher. 
Quotations  from  James  et  al.  Laws  of  habit-forma- 
tion stated.  The  moral  will  as  the  highest  expression 
of  the  moral  life.  Questions  and  suggestions.  Refer- 
ences for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  IV 

MORAL  TRAINING  THROUGH  THE    EXAMPLE  AND 

PERSONALITY   OF  THE  TEACHER.  .        .37 

Conscious  versus  unconscious  tuition.  The  best  thing 
a  college  does.  Palmer's  estimate  of  the  ideal  teacher. 
Hyde  on  personality.  A  lesson  from  Bonaventure. 
One  from  Domsie  of  Drumtochty.  Doctor  Strong's 
appeal  to  the  honor  of  boys.  Helen  Keller  and  Miss 
Sullivan.  Arnold  of  Rugby.  The  best  teachers  as 
seen  by  high-school  students.  Ruskin  quoted.  Im- 
portant qualities  restated.  Questions  and  suggestions. 
References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  V 

MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  SCHOOL  DISCIPLINE      57 

Discipline  as  a  means  to  an  end.  Its  place  among  the 
school  activities.  An  illustration.  Popular  estimate 
of  the  good  disciplinarian.  What  constitutes  good 
discipline.  Its  best  guaranteed  Teacher  must  not 
shirk  unpleasant  duties.  Motives  back  of  acts  must 
be  considered.  Importance  of  self-control  in  the 
teacher.  Punishment  should  be  reformative,  not 
retributive ;  must  be  suited  to  the  individuality  of  the 
child.  Arnold  Tompkins  quoted.  Children  profit  by 
seeing  their  acts  universalized.  Corporal  punish- 
ment sometimes  necessary.  Some  forms  of  punish- 
ment to  avoid.  Spencer  on  punishment.  The  teach- 
ings of  biology  and  psychology  that  have  a  bearing 
here.  Questions  and  suggestions.  References  for 
further  reading. 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  VI 

PAGE 

MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  READING  AND  LIT- 
ERATURE        75 

The  heritage  of  good  books.  Influence  of  the  teacher's 
reading.  Danger  of  too  much  analysis.  Three  types 
of  reading  matter:  the  immoral,  the  unmoral,  the 
moral,  with  examples  and  discussion  of  each.  Impor- 
tance of  discovering  what  children  voluntarily  read. 
A  suggestive  approach  to  the  child  who  dislikes  books. 
Questions  and  suggestions.  References  for  further 
reading. 

CHAPTER  VII 

MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY 90 

Opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  moral  judgment. 
Old  and  newer  conceptions  of  history.  Moral  rela- 
tionships writ  large  in  the  pages  of  history.  Illus- 
trations. Moral  elements  involved  in  American 
history.  Significance  of  personal  examples  of  moral 
acts.  Lecky's  stress  of  the  moral  aspects  of  history. 
Froude  quoted.  Patriotism  an  outcome  of  history- 
teaching.  Chauvinism  to  be  avoided.  America  and 
the  international  spirit.  Questions  and  suggestions. 
References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

MORALS    THROUGH    BIOGRAPHY          .         .        .        .     105 

Biography  appeals  to  children  who  are  outgrowing 
myths  and  legends.  Influence  of  good  men  is  dynamic. 
Avoid  extreme  censorship.  History  of  education 
learned  through  lives  of  its  reformers.  The  Bible 
made  vital  by  its  stories  of  great  men  and  women. 
Clara  Barton  and  the  Red  Cross.  Florence  Nightin- 
gale and  the  Crimean  War.  Frances  Willard  and  her 
influence.  Jacob  Riis.  Helen  Keller.  Dr.  Grenfell. 
Questions  and  suggestions.  References  for  further 
reading. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  IX 

PAGE 

MORAL    TRAINING    THROUGH     CURRENT    EVENTS     119 

Moral  qualities  of  a  dynamic  sort  often  characterize 
current  incidents  and  characters.  Discovery  and  use 
of  the  heroic  around  us.  William  James  tells  "What 
Makes  Life  Significant."  Heroes  in  unromantic 
walks.  A  lesson  from  the  sinking  of  the  Titanic. 
Hypothetical  cases  illustrate  a  point.  Cases  of  arson 
and  bigamy  and  the  lessons  they  taught.  News- 
paper accounts  of  great  disasters  and  calamities  an 
opportunity  for  the  expressive  side  of  morality.  Pes- 
talozzi's  practical  method  of  developing  sympathy. 
Advice  of  George  W.  Childs.  Seventh  grade  children 
study  efficiency.  Some  lessons  taught  most  effectively 
upon  special  days.  The  occasion  of  a  strike  as  an  op- 
portunity to  teach  the  moral  relationships  of  capital 
and  labor.  Objections  to  the  use  of  current  events 
answered.  Teach  children  to  read  the  daily  papers. 
Questions  and  suggestions.  References  for  further 
reading. 

CHAPTER  X 

THE  MINISTRY  OF   MUSIC 134 

Music  has  social  values.  It  is  the  language  of  the 
emotions.  It  begets  sympathy  and  understanding. 
Music  a  unifying  agent  among  children.  Music  and 
patriotism.  Music  and  religious  worship.  The  effect 
of  great  oratorios.  The  function  of  the  phonograph. 
Music  in  penal  institutions.  Danger  of  intellectualiz- 
ing  music  too  much.  Plato  upon  the  place  of  music  in 
educating  children.  The  attitude  of  the  psychologist 
towards  it.  Questions  and  suggestions.  References 
for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XI 

ART  EDUCATION  AND   MORALITY         ....     147 
Art  education  rests  upon  an  instinctive  love  of  the 
beautiful.     What  makes  art  education  moral  educa- 


CONTENTS  xi 


tion  ?  The  teacher's  dress  and  her  personal  appear- 
ance in  relation  to  art  education.  The  influence  of 
the  schoolroom  itself.  Pictures  with  a  moral  content. 
Religion  in  art.  Art  for  life's  sake.  Views  of  Ruskin, 
Caffin,  and  Griggs.  Questions  and  suggestions.  Ref- 
erences for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XII 

MORAL     AND     RELIGIOUS     EDUCATION    THROUGH 

NATUR^  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE  .  .  .  .161 
The  moral  aim  not  the  chief  aim  in  a  study  of  nature 
or  science.  Reflex  influence  of  their  study  upon  nat- 
uralists. Huxley  quoted.  Love  for  nature  gives 
wholesome  direction  to  one's  pleasures  and  hobbies. 
Specific  results :  higher  regard  for  truth ;  accuracy 
of  observation  and  fidelity  in  reporting;  promotion 
of  health ;  development  of  humane  spirit ;  independ- 
ence of  character;  respect  for  law  and  order;  ap- 
preciation of  economic  values ;  recognition  of  its  rela- 
tion to  medicine  and  the  art  of  healing.  War  and 
science.  Science  in  relation  to  the  Deity.  Questions 
and  suggestions.  References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

MORAL  INSTRUCTION  THROUGH  MANUAL  TRAINING  179 
Meaning  of  the  phrase  as  used.  Reasons  for  crediting 
"outside  work."  Reformatories  first  to  see  moral 
values  of  work.  Appeal  to  interests  of  children.  A 
lesson  from  Tuskegee.  Work  in  relation  to  sym- 
pathy and  appreciation.  Moral  obligation  of  self- 
support.  Labor  a  fortification  against  vice.  The 
chief  duty  of  man  to  minister.  Questions  and  sug- 
gestions. References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

MORAL  TRAINING  THROUGH  PLAY,  PHYSICAL  CUL- 
TURE,  GAMES,   AND   ATHLETICS      ....     193 
Attitude  of  the  Puritans.     Influence  of  the  "new  psy- 


xii  CONTENTS 

chology."  Teachings  of  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Quin- 
tilian.  Froebel's  influence.  Play  and  a  physical 
basis  for  a  sound  morality.  Play  as  a  medium  for  the 
exhibit  to  teachers  and  parents  of  the  fundamental 
strength  or  weakness  of  character.  The  playground  a 
cradle  of  democracy.  "Teamwork"  in  play  as  moral 
training.  Moral  and  hygienic  habits  fostered  by 
competitive  games.  Supervised  playgrounds  a  neces- 
sity. Questions  and  suggestions.  References  for 
further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XV 

MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIREC- 
TION         208 

Modern  schools  undertake  to  train  for  life  work.  Va- 
rious methods  used  to  give  vocational  direction. 
Basic  moral  requirements  common  to  all  vocations  and 
professions.  Temperance  in  relation  to  industry. 
Truthfulness  and  honesty  essential  everywhere. 
Courtesy  a  profitable  virtue.  Smoking  in  relation  to 
success  in  life.  Ethics  of  the  medical  profession. 
Secretarial  requirements.  A  teacher's  supreme  need. 
Where  initiative  counts  most.  Industry  as  an  asset. 
The  ethics  of  work.  Questions  and  suggestions.  Ref- 
erences for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE   TEACHING   OF  THRIFT  AS    MORAL  TRAINING     219 

Reasons  for  teaching  of  thrift.  The  duty  of  the 
schools.  Relation  of  money  to  spiritual  values.  Prac- 
tical suggestions  to  teachers  :  investigation  of  motion 
picture  habits ;  teaching  the  value  of  waste  products ; 
establishment  of  school  savings  system;  promotion 
of  home  and  school  gardening,  corn  clubs,  tomato 
clubs,  pig  clubs,  calf  clubs,  etc. ;  encouraging  house- 
hold budgets ;  showing  the  financial  value  of  an  educa- 
tion ;  teaching  the  economic  value  of  health ;  using 
biography  as  an  example  of  thrift.  Questions  and 
suggestions.  References  for  further  reading. 


CONTENTS  xiii 


CHAPTER  XVII 

PAGE 

SEX  INSTRUCTION  IN  RELATION  TO   MORALITY     .     241 

Consequences  of  sex-perversions.  Changing  attitude 
of  parents  and  teachers.  Shall  mothers  explain  the 
origin  of  life  ?  Simple  biological  facts  pertaining  to 
reproduction.  Sex  hygiene  for  early  adolescents. 
Personal  honor  to  be  developed.  The  testimony  of 
physicians.  Who  shall  give  lessons  in  matters  of  sex  ? 
Some  accepted  principles  of  sex  instruction.  Questions 
and  suggestions.  References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

BOY   SCOUTING   AS  A  FACTOR   IN   MORAL   EDUCA- 
TION     .  ....  .     256 

Illustrations  of  cooperation  between  the  schools  and 
other  educative  agencies.  Recognition  of  the  Scout 
movement  by  the  N.  E.  A.  Relation  of  Scouting  to 
formal  school  work.  What  Scouting  means.  The 
Scout  Oath.  The  Scout  Law.  Illustrations  of 
"good  turns."  Scouting  as  an  example  of  expression 
in  education.  Questions  and  suggestions.  References 
for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XIX 

MOTION  PICTURES  AND   MORALS        ....     268 
Question    must    be    faced.     Two    types   of  pictures. 
Decatur's  three  experiments.     Cooperation   of  com- 
mercial   houses.     Conclusions.     Questions    and    sug- 
gestions. 

CHAPTER  XX 
MORAL   EDUCATION   THROUGH   THE   BIBLE      .        .     283 

The  Bible  as  literature.  Its  influence  upon  literature. 
Objections  to  its  use  as  a  textbook.  Examples  of  les- 
sons that  may  be  used  without  giving  offense :  the  im- 
portance of  wisdom;  respect  for  parents ;  industry  and 


xiv  CONTENTS 


laziness  contrasted;  sin  of  intemperance;  mutual 
relationships  illustrated ;  who  is  my  neighbor  ?  Biblical 
biographies.  Method  of  use  illustrated.  Use  of  quo- 
tations. Lessons  from  the  life  of  Jesus.  Questions 
and  suggestions.  References  for  further  reading. 

CHAPTER  XXI 

MORAL  LESSONS  FROM  THE  EUROPEAN  WAR        .     300 

The  value  of  physical  preparedness.  Sex-morality  in 
relation  to  patriotism.  Beneficent  results  already 
achieved :  sacrifice,  service,  unity,  revival  of  funda- 
mentals in  religion,  breaking  down  of  sectarian  bar- 
riers. The  duty  of  the  school.  Questions  and  sug- 
gestions. References  for  further  reading. 

INDEX 311 


MORAL    EDUCATION    IN 
SCHOOL    AND    HOME 


_^ 


CHAPTER  I 


ft~fT*  INTRODUCTION 

Morality  is  not  something  added  to  man;  it  is  the 
man;  and  so  morals  is  not  a  part  of  the  course;  it  is 
the  course.  True  moral  teaching  seeks  to  affect  conduct 
indirectly  by  the  general  elevation  of  life.  Whatever 
brings  out  the  features  of  the  soul,  develops  fully  and 
harmoniously  its  powers  and  faculties,  directs  the  aspir- 
ing self  to  the  highest  claims  of  manhood,  frees  and  stimu- 
lates the  ethical  passion  among  the  forces  of  man's  nature, 
reveals  to  the  individual  the  beauty  and  worth  of  char- 
acter, and  inspires  the  soul  with  a  passion  for  truth  and 
righteousness  that  shall  press  towards  absolute  satis- 
faction, is  moral  teaching. 

With  this  view  of  the  question  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
instruction  in  morals  may  find  a  place  in  the  course  of 
study;  or  to  see  that  it  matters  little  if  it  have  no  place; 
for  the  teacher  who  tones  all  his  work  to  the  moral  key 
can  afford  to  refuse  it  space  on  the  program. 

TOMPKINS,  Philosophy  of  Teaching,  p.  267. 

Revival  of  interest  in  moral  education.  —  One 
of  the  promising  characteristics  of  the  times  is  an 
awakening  of  interest  in  the  moral  and  religious 


2.    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


,  .of  di<^ccn8d.  To  be  sure  there  has  always 
'  Befeii'  rtioTe  or  IksS  of  interest  in  it,  but  too  long  it 
was  sporadic,  vague,  and  abortive.  Here  and  there 
throughout  the  ages  have  been  men  and  women 
with  clear  vision,  keenly  conscious  that  the  moral 
habits  and  ideals  of  the  child  of  today  are  the  neces- 
sary precursors  of  the  moral  acts  of  the  man  and 
woman  of  tomorrow.  But  it  has  remained  for  the 
present  day  to  witness  an  interest  and  a  movement 
that  are  taking  hold  of  the  social  conscience  and 
social  consciousness,  and  resulting  in  more  definite 
and  more  purposeful  steps  in  the  formulation  of  a 
scheme  of  instruction  and  training  that  will  leave 
less  to  accident  and  chance  in  this  paramount  phase 
of  child  development.  A  casual  study  of  the  pro- 
grams of  educational  meetings,  national,  state,  and 
local,  will  show  that  within  the  past  five  years  more 
time  ajid  attention  have  been  given  to  a  considera- 
tion of  this  topic  than  had  been  given  it  within  the 
score  of  years  preceding.  Books  and  monographs, 
as  well  as  addresses,  have  multiplied  ;  and  leading 
social  workers  in  church  and  Sunday  school  have 
taken  hold  of  the  problem  with  teachers  in  the  effort 
to  blaze  a  trail  and  find  a  way  to  make  moral  train- 
ing dynamic  and  effective. 

Cooperation  of  social  forces  necessary.  —  At 
this  point  probably  lies  the  key  to  the  success 
which  may  be  reasonably  expected  in  the  difficult 
social  task  that  confronts  all  who  try  to  solve  this 
problem.  The  duty  is  one  which  devolves  upon 
the  home,  the  church,  and  the  state  as  well  as  the 
school.  Cooperation  and  coordination  of  social 
forces  and  social  efforts  are  necessary.  No  one 


INTRODUCTION  3 

organization  and  no  single  institution  has  a  monopoly 
upon  the  child's  life.  No  one  of  them  can  assume 
the  whole  responsibility ;  and  no  one  of  them  has 
a  right  to  shirk  its  portion  of  the  responsibility. 
The  child's  life  can  not  be  sectioned.  It  does  not 
develop  in  watertight  compartments.  The  whole 
child  goes  to  school,  to  play,  to  movies,  to  church, 
in  time  to  work,  and  always  to  its  home  for  certain 
hours  of  every  day.  Its  life  is  subject  to  influences 
every  hour  which  leave  their  imprint  upon  it. 
Experiences  in  each  of  these  situations  may  re- 
enforce  the  growing  moral  life  of  the  child.  Ex- 
periences in  any  one  of  them  may  tend  to  neutralize 
the  good  effects  wrought  by  the  others.  An  irrever- 
ent, irreligious  teacher  may  do  much  to  bring  to 
nought  the  zeal  and  the  devotion  of  a  pious  mother. 
Vulgarity  and  profanity  on  the  playground  may 
easily  offset  the  wholesome  influence  of  much  moral 
instruction  in  church  and  home.  Uncensored  films 
in  motion  picture  shows  may  poison  childish  im- 
agination beyond  the  antidotes  offered  by  the  best 
literature  taught  in  the  public  schools.  An  un- 
developed social  morality  revealing  itself  in  city 
ordinances  that  take  little  note  of  the  pitfalls  of 
boys  —  saloons,  wine  rooms,  brothels,  pool  rooms, 
Sabbath  desecration,  etc.,  and  in  the  appointment 
and  continuance  in  office  of  officials  who  wink  at 
law-breakers  and  law-breaking — all  of  this  makes 
infinitely  more  difficult  the  task  of  any  individual 
or  institution  striving  to  teach  and  train  children 
in  habits  and  ideals  of  moral  life. 

The    strength    and    limitations    of    the    Sunday 
school.  —  Since   the   establishment   of  the  Sunday 


4     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

school  as  an  almost  universal  adjunct  of  the  church 
in  America  there  has  been  a  sort  of  tacit  assumption 
that  the  moral  and  religious  education  of  children 
could  safely  be  left  to  it ;  but  there  are  two  excellent 
reasons  why  the  Sunday  school  can  not  justify  such 
confidence.  First,  there  are  even  today  thousands 
of  children  who  never  go  to  Sunday  school  at  all. 
They  must,  as  a  result,  miss  most  of  the  wholesome 
influence  radiating  from  this  center.  Unfortunately, 
the  children  who  seldom  or  never  go  to  Sunday 
school  belong  to  homes  in  which  the  parents  have 
but  slight  interest  in  the  moral  habits  of  their  chil- 
dren. Thus  it  often  comes  about  that  homes  which 
need  most  the  help  the  Sunday  school  can  give,  get 
nothing  from  it. 

But  second,  the  Sunday  school  of  the  past  has 
been  far  less  effective  as  a  moral  and  religious  in- 
strument than  it  was  thought  to  be.  It  was  founded 
upon  excellent  faith  with  the  best  of  intentions,  but 
rested  upon  a  poor  psychological  foundation.  The 
thousands  of  children  who  were  fortunate  enough 
to  come  within  its  portals  got  less  than  their  deserts 
because  it  did  not  adapt  its  teachings  to  their  needs 
and  their  interests. 

It  may  not  be  in  place  to  point  out  here  the  short- 
comings of  the  Sunday  school,  but  its  best  friends 
today  admit  its  relative  failure  in  the  past  because 
its  teachers  lacked  pedagogical  insight;  its  course 
of  study  was  ill  adapted  to  the  interests  of  children; 
and  its  rooms  and  equipment  were  almost  wholly 
unsuited  to  the  requirements  of  good  teaching. 
All  of  this  is  slowly  changing  today.  The  most 
progressive  schools  are  demanding  teachers  who 


INTRODUCTION  5 

not  only  know  the  Bible,  but  know  children  as  well. 
Sunday-school  teaching,  to  be  effective,  needs  to 
be  done  in  the  light  of  child  psychology,  and  by 
teachers  who  can  bring  to  their  task  the  same  sort 
of  methodology  that  has  a  place  in  the  best  public 
schools.  Graded  lessons,  adapted  to  the  interests 
of  children  of  different  ages,  with  different  dominant 
instincts  and  tendencies,  are  finding  more  and  more 
favor.  Church  edifices  are  rapidly  changing  to 
afford  separate  classrooms,  in  which  the  attention 
of  the  pupils  will  not  need  to  be  distracted  by  a  con- 
fusion of  voices.  Blackboards  and  maps  and  charts 
and  other  helps  are  being  utilized  to  make  possible 
more  visualization  in  the  process  of  teaching  and 
learning.  In  other  words,  the  Sunday  school  of  this 
day  is  powerfully  influenced  by  the  secular  schools, 
which  have  been  away  in  advance  of  the  churches 
in  their  ready  application  of  the  principles  of  psy- 
chology and  pedagogy  to  their  teaching  processes. 

Reciprocity  of  churches  and  public  schools.  — 
But  even  this  is  not  enough.  The  past  two  or 
three  years  have  developed  the  well-defined  belief 
that  ways  must  be  found  for  standardizing  the 
moral  and  religious  instruction  of  public  school 
children,  and  for  reaching  all  of  them  who  are 
reached  by  the  public  schools.  The  North  Dakota 
plan,  the  Colorado  plan,  the  Gary  plan,  and  the 
Indiana  plan  are  all  plans  looking  towards  the 
standardization  and  universalizing  of  this  phase  of 
the  child's  education.  Their  significance  lies  in 
the  fact  that  they  indicate  a  growing  sense  of  the 
importance  of  this  teaching ;  and  a  no  less  growing 
recognition  of  the  need  of  cooperative  effort  upon 


6     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

the  part  of  church  and  home  and  public  school 
in  doing  it  effectively.  In  so  far  as  the  public 
schools  have  become  the  leaders  in  this  move- 
ment, they  have  become  so  because  their  leaders 
have  become  actuated  by  the  same  high  aims  and 
purposes  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  have  come  to 
see  that  the  life  of  the  child  is  "  more  than  meat  " 
and  its  "  body  more  than  raiment."  In  other 
words,  while  the  church  and  Sunday  school  have 
recently  become  debtors  to  the  public  schools  for 
methods,  principles,  teachers,  and  even  classrooms 
and  equipment,  the  public  schools  have  become  or 
are  becoming  debtor  to  them  for  lofty  purposes  and 
high  moral  aims  in  the  accomplishment  of  their 
tasks.  Such  reciprocity  and  exchange  augurs  well 
for  both,  and  for  the  child  that  needs  the  tuition  of 
both. 

New  meaning  of  correlation.  -  -  Two  decades  ago 
the  watchword  of  pedagogy  was  correlation.  The 
same  idea  was  expressed  by  the  term  concentration 
and  by  coordination.  The  idea  was  to  correlate 
all  schoolroom  teaching  around  some  central  or 
pivotal  subject  which  was  considered  by  its  advo- 
cates to  be  the  one  subject  of  supreme  importance 
in  child  development.  Some  found  in  history,  some 
in  literature,  and  some  in  still  other  subjects,  the 
backbone  of  all  important  curricula.  No  such 
scheme  succeeded  in  accomplishing  all  that  was 
claimed  for  it,  and  there  has  long  since  ceased  to  be 
any  such  correlation  of  subjects  as  was  once  urged ; 
but  the  idea  of  correlation  has  survived.  Today, 
however,  it  is  a  correlation  of  institutional  efforts 
that  demands  our  attention.  How  to  join  hands 


INTRODUCTION  7 

with  other  agencies  and  utilize  all  that  they  can  con- 
tribute in  furthering  the  work  of  the  public  schools 
is  a  problem  for  all  concerned  in  their  administra- 
tion. Parent-teacher  associations,  associations  of 
commerce,  factories,  department  stores,  physicians, 
dentists,  art  leagues,  musical  societies,  farmers' 
institutes,  libraries,  churches,  Sunday  schools, 
women's  clubs,  old  settlers'  associations  —  all  of 
these  and  many  more  are  capable  of  touching  the 
life  of  a  child  in  helpful  ways,  and  the  school  of  the 
future  will  do  its  best  work  only  as  it  learns  how  to 
appropriate  and  to  correlate  the  educational  assets 
of  these  agencies  and  institutions.  The  effort  to 
expand  the  scope  of  moral  instruction  of  school 
children,  and  to  coordinate  the  teachings  and  in- 
fluences of  those  agencies  and  institutions  which 
have  a  bearing  upon  the  morals  of  children,  is  but 
a  part  of  this  larger  present-day  movement. 

But  while  we  are  witnessing,  and  even  sharing 
in,  such  an  extensive  movement,  the  school  is  com- 
pelled to  intensify  its  own  endeavors  as  a  part  of 
the  larger  program.  This  is  a  logical  outcome  of 
the  new  dignity  and  new  responsibility  which  schools 
everywhere  must  bear  as  the  school  day  and  school 
year  grow  longer,  and  as  "  all  the  children  of  all 
the  people  "  are  being  brought  into  the  schools  and 
kept  there,  not  only  throughout  a  longer  school  year, 
but  through  more  years  than  they  were  once  kept. 

The  point  of  view  of  the  whole  book.  —  Indeed, 
the  schools  are  passing  through  a  stage  in  which 
not  only  their  organization  and  methods  are  being 
challenged,  but  they  are  being  asked  to  justify  the 
content  of  their  courses  of  study.  That  which  can 


8     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

not  be  justified  must  be  banished.  Subject  matter 
is  being  weighed  in  the  light  of  its  possible  contribu- 
tion to  the  needs  of  the  child.  These  needs  are  be- 
ing analyzed  as  never  before.  Certain  of  them  are 
physical,  others  are  intellectual,  some  are  spiritual. 
Again,  it  is  recognized  that  a  child's  education  in- 
volves a  certain  minimum  fund  of  information  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  universally  desirable; 
it  involves  the  formation  of  a  number  of  habits  which 
give  poise  and  balance  and  stability  to  character, 
and  insure  reaction  of  the  desirable  sort  to  most 
situations  of  life ;  and  finally  it  includes  ideals 
which  ennoble  and  attract  and  inspire,  and  do  much 
to  insure  that  his  life  will  be  lived  on  a  high  moral 
plane,  not  guaranteed  at  all  by  intellectual  training 
alone.  The  good  teacher  finds  it  necessary  in  every 
subject  and  every  lessontto  consider  the  limitations 
and  needs  of  her  class,  and  to  ask  herself  what  a 
proposed  lesson  has  to  give  along  these  lines.  In- 
asmuch as  few  needs  are  more  pronounced  than 
development  of  moral  fiber,  it  is  important  for 
teachers  to  realize  the  fact  itself,  and  then  to  see,  as 
clearly  as  they  may,  just  how  to  utilize  to  the  maxi- 
mum for  moral  ends  the  various  lessons  and  other 
school  experiences  which  may  be  employed  for  other 
purposes.  In  other  words,  since  our  curricula  are 
necessarily  crowded,  and  since  there  is  by  no  means 
general  agreement  that  a  specific  course  in  moral 
training  or  ethics  would  be  the  surest  means  of  in- 
fluencing character,  it  is  well  to  see  what  can  be 
done  for  character  with  the  ordinary  subjects  of 
instruction  and  the  common  experiences  of  the 
elementary  school.  Assuming  that  character  is  a 


INTRODUCTION  9 

by-product,  and  one  most  likely  to  be  secured  when 
something  else  is  made  the  school's  objective  point, 
it  may  still  be  lost,  in  large  measure,  as  valuable 
by-products  were  long  lost  in  processes  of  manu- 
facture until  their  value  was  at  last  recognized,  and 
ways  discovered  whereby  they  might  be  secured 
without  neglect  of  the  products  of  earlier  major 
concern. 

Presupposition  of  the  book.  —  The  chapters  of 
this  book  are  therefore  written  to  direct  the  atten- 
tion of  the  young  teacher  to  ways  and  means  of 
utilizing  as  largely  as  possible  the  potential  moral 
values  of  the  school  as  an  institution ;  and  to  ex- 
hibit, so  far  as  we  can,  the  moral  aspects  of  the 
conventional  subjects  of  instruction,  and  of  the 
various  activities  comprising  the  life  of  the  school. 
A  presupposition  of  the  whole  book  is  that  there  is 
a  rich  moral  content  in  literature,  history,  and 
biography;  that  discipline,  study,  manual  training 
courses,  and  playground  activities  may  be  made  to 
contribute  largely  to  the  moral  development  of 
pupils;  and,  in  fact,  that  the  school  needs  to  be 
thoroughly  moral  in  its  every  aspect,  and  the  teacher 
needs  to  see  how  to  make  its  several  phases  of  study, 
recitation,  work,  and  play  minister  to  the  unfolding 
moral  life  of  the  child  without  the  necessity  of 
adding  a  specific  course  in  morals  to  an  already 
overcrowded  curriculum. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

i.  What  evidence  can  you  cite  that  there  is  greater 
interest  in  either  moral  or  religious  education  than  there 
was  years  ago  ? 


10     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

2.  Distinguish  between  moral  training  and  the  teaching 
of  morals. 

3.  List  the  organizations  of  your  community  which  are 
cooperating  more  or  less  fully  with  the  schools,  and  show 
wherein  they  are  influencing  the  moral  life  of  children. 

4.  What  has  the  legislature  to  do  with  moral  training  ? 
Can  you  cite  any  act  of  your  last  legislature  that  has  a 
bearing  upon  the  moral  life  of  children  ?     If  so,  show  its 
bearing. 

5.  Distinguish   between  moral  instruction   and  moral 
training. 

6.  Assuming   the   supreme   importance   of  the   moral 
training  of  children,  what  reasons  can  you  assign  for  not 
giving  it  a  specific  place  upon  the  daily  school  program  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

CARLTON,  FRANK  TRACY  :  Education  and  Industrial  Evolution  : 

The  Relation  between  Educational  Advance  and  Industrial 

Progress,  chapter  in.     Macmillan  Co. 
DEGARMO,  CHARLES  :    Moral  Training  through   the   Common 

Branches,  in  Proceedings  of  the  N.  E.  A.  1894,  pp.  165-173. 
DEWEY,  JOHN  :   Democracy  in  Education  :   Theories  of  Morals, 

chapter  xxvi.     Macmillan  Co. 
McMuRRY,  CHARLES  A. :    Conflicting    Principles  in  Teaching, 

chapter  xni.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
PEABODY,   FRANCIS   G. :    The   Christian   Life   in   the   Modern 

World.     Macmillan  Co. 
STRAYER  and  NORSWORTHY  :  How  to  Teach  :  The  Development 

of  Moral  Social  Conduct,  chapter  xi.     Macmillan  Co. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL 

To  rear  men  fit  and  ready  for  all  spots  and  crises, 
prompt  and  busy  in  affairs,  gentle  among  little  children, 
self-reliant  in  danger,  genial  in  company,  sharp  in  a  jury- 
box,  tenacious  at  a  town  meeting,  unseducible  in  a  crowd, 
tender  at  a  sick-bed,  not  likely  to  jump  into  the  first 
boat  at  a  shipwreck,  affectionate  and  respectful  at  home, 
obliging  in  a  traveling  party,  shrewd  and  just  in  the 
market,  reverent  and  punctual  at  the  church,  not  going 
about,  as  Robert  Hall  said,  "with  an  air  of  perpetual 
apology  for  the  unpardonable  presumption  of  being  in 
the  world",  nor  yet  forever  supplicating  the  world's 
special  consideration,  brave  in  action,  patient  in  suffering, 
believing  and  cheerful  everywhere,  fervent  in  spirit,  serv- 
ing the  Lord.  HUNTINGTON. 

Ideals  of  antiquity.  —  Different  ages  and  different 
nations  have  had  many  different  educational  ideals, 
as  any  study  of  the  history  of  education  will  easily 
show.  The  Chinese  ideal  was  long  one  which  almost 
deified  the  past.  Ancestor  worship,  walking  in  the 
beaten  paths,  conservation  of  the  practices  and 
customs  of  antiquity,  were  all  factors  in  it  which 
determined  the  content  and  the  methods  of  Chinese 
education.  The  Hebrews  had  an  ideal  much  akin 
to  it;  but  believing  themselves  a  peculiar  people, 
especially  favored  by  Jehovah,  with  a  deeply  religious 

ii 


12     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

consciousness,  a  quality  that  has  indeed  character- 
ized still  other  Semitic  peoples,  their  ideal  was  essen- 
tially religious.  It,  too,  left  its  mark  upon  every- 
thing connected  with  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren. The  Greeks,  and  especially  the  Athenians, 
held  to  culture  as  the  worth-while  mark  of  a  free 
people.  No  other  people,  therefore,  whether  in  an- 
cient or  modern  times,  have  done  more  to  develop 
a  capacity  for  intellectual  and  aesthetic  enjoyment 
of  leisure  than  they.  When  the  dark  ages  began  to 
give  way  before  the  light  of  the  Renaissance  in  art 
and  letters,  it  was  the  Greek  ideal  that  once  more 
began  to  shape  the  life  of  Middle  Age  Europe.  Law, 
order,  strength,  and  efficiency  were  factors  in  the 
early  Roman  ideal  which  found  expression  and  sup- 
port in  Roman  life  and  Roman  schools. 

Ideals  of  later  times.  —  Discipline  of  the  mental 
faculties  is  a  later  term  for  an  educational  ideal  that 
long  held  sway,  and  determined  much  of  educational 
practice  until  recent  times.  Indeed  the  so-called 
dogma  of  formal  discipline  did  not  release  its  powerful 
hold  and  begin  to  lose  favor  as  an  educational  ideal 
until  the  rise  of  modern  experimental  psychology  and 
the  scientific  study  of  education  of  the  last  decade. 

Knowledge  as  a  dominant  ideal  was  popularized  by 
such  writers  as  Bacon,  Locke,  and  Comenius.  While 
the  field  of  human  knowledge  was  small  enough  to 
make  its  mastery  a  reasonable  hope  for  a  brilliant 
mind,  there  was  justification  for  the  large  place 
long  given  to  this  ideal.  Today,  however,  it  would 
require  a  lifetime  to  complete  all  the  courses  offered 
in  one  of  our  great  universities,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  advance  being  made  in  most  of  them,  an  advance 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL  13 

which  the  most  ambitious  student  could  not  keep 
abreast  of,  in  more  than  one  or  two  lines. 

Citizenship  as  an  end  of  education  is  a  popular 
word,  and  has  been  since  Plato  wrote  his  Utopian 
Republic,  but  no  man  has  done  more  in  America 
than  Horace  Mann  to  exalt  citizenship  as  an  educa- 
tional ideal  and  to  impress  his  countrymen  with  the 
truth  that  the  common  schools  are  the  hope  of  our 
country.  So  long  as  the  divine  right  of  kings  to 
rule  is  unchallenged,  it  makes  relatively  little  dif- 
ference whether  any  citizens  other  than  the  rulers 
are  highly  educated  or  not;  but  among  a  people 
who  look  upon  every  common  man  or  woman  as 
having  all  the  potential  rights  and  duties  of  a  sov- 
ereign, training  for  citizenship  becomes  a  paramount 
duty,  and  few  ideals  can  have  a  more  important  place 
in  the  thought  of  the  nation  than  this  one  has. 

Utilitarianism  is  a  present-day  concept  which  is 
occupying  a  more  prominent  place  in  our  thinking 
than  it  is  ultimately  to  fill,  because  its  claims  must 
be  exaggerated  to  give  it  the  hearing  to  which  it  is 
honestly  entitled.  Its  advocates  have  already  per- 
formed valuable  service  in  jarring  the  nation  loose 
from  its  reliance  upon  books,  visions,  a.nd  culture, 
and  teaching  with  Longfellow  that  "  life  is  real,  life 
is  earnest,"  and  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  schools 
to  prepare  boys  and  girls,  even  those  who  must  leave 
school  early,  .for  this  reality.  Breadwinning,  self- 
support,  work,  support  of  dependent  ones,  these  are 
parts  of  the  reality  of  life  for  every  one,  and  the  child 
who  faces  this  fact  and  prepares  for  it,  other  things 
being  equal,  is  going  to  become  a  more  valuable  citi- 
zen and  a  happier  man  than  one  who  does  not, 


14     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Character-building  as  the  end  of  education  is  a 
phrase  which  while  perhaps  not  introduced  by  the 
Herbartians  has  been  given  an  exalted  place  by  them. 
Indeed  no  other  conception  of  the  aim  of  education 
seems  to  us  so  closely  to  identify  it  with  the  Chris- 
tian view  of  the  end  or  aim  of  life  itself.  The  de- 
velopment of  moral  character  involves  of  necessity 
the  development  of  the  hand  and  the  head,  but  it 
makes  such  development  accessory  and  not  funda- 
mental, subsidiary  and  not  ultimate.  Intelligence 
and  practical  skill  are  not  incompatible  with  moral 
character  but  may  exist  without  it.  The  thousands 
of  men  who  have  been  most  successful,  as  judged  by 
mere  practical  and  utilitarian  standards,  the  other 
thousands  who  have  been  among  the  intellectual 
elite,  but  void  of  moral  fiber,  are  eloquent  witnesses 
of  this  truth.  Even  Socrates  made  the  mistake  of 
confounding  knowledge  and  virtue.  It  does  not  at 
all  follow  that  the  man  who  knows  will  be  the  virtu- 
ous man.  The  heart  does  not  always  respond  when 
the  head  assents.  "  Character  is  the  disposition  of 
a  person's  will,"  and  will  may  be  strong  in  nega- 
tive directions,  when  the  intelligence  alone  would 
sanction  an  opposite  course.  Every  jail  and  every 
prison  contains  numerous  men  who  have  made  ship- 
wreck of  life  because  their  wills  were  weak  or  bad. 
No  wonder  the  philosopher  Kant  was  able  to  say 
that  "  the  only  absolutely  good  thing  in  the  world 
is  a  good  will." 

Any  modern  aim  must  be  composite.  --The  pre- 
ceding paragraphs  have  doubtless  already  suggested 
to  the  reader  that  our  educational  aim  must  needs 
be  composite  to  be  adequate;  that  every  separate 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL  15 

ideal  mentioned  above  has  a  place  as  a  factor  in  the 
product  at  which  we  aim ;  and  that  no  one  of  them 
could  be  omitted  without  loss.  Such  a  view  is  surely 
correct.  The  difficulty  is  that  of  seeing  them  in 
balanced  relations.  A  proper  sense  of  proportion 
is  not  an  easy  sense  to  cultivate  in  any  field.  Most 
of  us  are  likely  to  mistake  half-truths  for  the  whole 
truth ;  and  to  permit  the  good  to  become  the  enemy 
of  the  best.  This  tendency  in  man  has  delayed 
progress  in  every  field  of  endeavor  throughout  his- 
tory. In  educational  circles  we  have  been  particu- 
larly prone  to  this  error.  But  the  young  teacher 
will  do  well  to  survey  the  aims  and  ideals  enumer- 
ated above  and  ask  herself  what  one  she  can  afford 
to  ignore.  She  may  find  it  profitable  to  inquire,  too, 
whether  the  last  named  is  really  comprehensive 
enough  and  far-reaching  enough  to  justify  more 
thinking  and  more  teaching  in  the  effort  to  translate 
it  into  reality  in  the  lives  of  her  pupils. 

Every  true  soldier  feels  that  death  is  preferable 
to  disgrace  or  dishonor  on  the  field  of  battle.  This 
is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  a  soldier  develops 
a  character  which  sets  a  certain  type  of  morality 
above  life  itself.  Most  right-thinking  parents  love 
their  own  children  so  well  that  they  gladly  make 
almost  any  sacrifice  for  them,  if  sacrifice  is  neces- 
sary, but  there  are  few  Christian  parents  who  would 
not  think  even  an  honorable  death  of  their  child  a 
less  grievous  calamity  than  the  life  of  their  child 
lived  in  shame  and  disgrace.  In  other  words,  as 
dear  as  the  life  of  our  loved  ones  is  normally  regarded, 
and  as  bitter  as  death  is  thought  to  be,  there  is 
something  more  bitter  to  most  of  us,  and  that  is 


16     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

the  grossly  immoral  life.  If  teachers  could  only  get 
this  point  of  view,  there  are  some  things  which  they 
find  it  easy  to  ignore  that  would  loom  large  on  the 
horizon  of  their  teaching ;  and  there  are  other  things 
which  cause  them  most  anxiety  and  effort  that  would 
as  surely  be  treated  less  seriously. 

Intellectual  results  measured  qualitatively  and 
quantitatively.  —  There  are  certain  intellectual  re- 
sults rightly  expected  in  the  classroom  that  admit  of 
qualitative  and  even  fairly  accurate  quantitative 
measurement.  This  is  especially  true  of  all  that  has 
made  its  appeal  chiefly  to  memory.  The  very  ease 
with  which  these  results  have  been  measured  and 
the  extreme  difficulty  of  measuring  growth  in  moral 
lines  have  been  responsible  for  stressing  the  one 
and  slighting  the  other  in  the  schoolroom.  I  can 
determine  whether  my  child  knows  more  history 
today  than  he  knew  yesterday  or  not.  I  do  not 
find  it  easy  to  ascertain  whether  he  has  made  cor- 
responding growth  in  moral  character.  So  I  find 
myself  tempted  -as  a  teacher  to  labor  for  results  in 
the  realm  whose  results  are  measurable ;  and  trust  to 
luck  for  satisfactory  results  in  the  less  tangible  sphere. 

Where  scientific  tests  are  still  inapplicable.  - 
Scientific  tests  and  standard  measurements  are  doing 
much  today  to  enable  teachers  to  ascertain  the 
effectiveness  of  their  own  teaching,  so  far  as  it  has 
to  do  with  a  mastery  of  the  fundamental  operations 
in  arithmetic ;  with  the  establishment  of  a  habit  in 
writing;  with  an  incorporation  of  certain  conven- 
tional modes  of  sentence  and  paragraph  structure  in 
composition,  and  with  power  to  interpret  and  express 
the  thought  of  a  printed  page,  These  tests  may  be 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL  17 

perfected  and  others  worked  out  to  apply  to  still 
other  subjects,  and  other  phases  of  the  same  sub- 
jects; but  at  present  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  estimate  from  year  to  year  a 
child's  growth  in  ideals,  in  honor,  in  altruism,  in  the 
graces  or  even  the  more  homely  virtues  which  form 
constituent  parts  of  the  thing  we  call  moral  character. 
But  the  teacher  must  guard  against  the  thought  that 
this  supreme  object  of  school  endeavor  is  of  second- 
ary importance  because  its  exact  measurement  is 
either  difficult  or  impossible. 

The  time  may  never  come  when  it  will  be  possible 
to  forecast  or  even  later  to  determine  the  effect  of  a 
song  which  touches  the  heart,  a  picture  which  stirs 
the  emotions,  a  poem  which  makes  life  better  for 
its  readers;  but  we  shall  continue  to  profit  by 
these  forms  of  art,  even  though  we  may  not  know 
to  what  extent  we  profit.  In  like  manner  we  shall 
continue  to  enrich  and  ennoble  character  through 
the  processes  of  the  school  even  though  we  can  not 
ascertain  the  rate  of  growth  in  this  direction  from 
day  to  day  or  even  from  year  to  year. 

Importance  of  the  parent's  point  of  view.  —  It  is 
well  for  us  as  teachers  to  get  a  parent's  point  of 
view  that  we  may  exalt  character-building  to  its 
proper  place  in  the  category  of  educational  aims. 
No  normal  father  or  mother  can  fail  to  find  positive 
satisfaction  in  their  child's  growing  scholarship,  in 
his  mental  development,  in  his  improved  language 
habits,  and  other  logical  outcomes  of  school  work; 
but  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  any  of  these  results 
is  comparable  in  parental  pleasure  to  the  increas- 
ing evidence  of  habits  of  industry,  cleanliness,  truth- 


1 8     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

telling,  honesty,  kindness,  punctuality,  temperance, 
justice,  chastity,  politeness,  consideration  for  the 
rights  of  others,  chivalrous  regard  for  girls  and 
women,  respect  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  reverence  for 
all  things  sacred  and  holy  increasingly  exhibited  in 
the  conduct  of  their  children.  In  other  words, 
parents  are  supremely  concerned  with  the  ethical 
code  and  conduct  of  their  boys  and  girls.  In  their 
most  thoughtful  moments  they  are  vastly  more 
anxious  to  see  their  sons  and  daughters  become  men 
and  women  uncorrupted  and  uncorruptible,  of  a  fine 
sense  of  personal  honor,  with  habits  and  ideals  that 
will  admit  them  into  the  inner  circles  of  the  world's 
best  men  and  women  —  more  anxious  to  witness  this 
consummation  of  their  hopes  and  prayers  than  to 
see  any  other  possible  outcome  in  the  education  of 
their  children. 

This,  therefore,  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that 
the  school,  through  its  teachers,  needs  to  give  a  more 
prominent  place  to  character-building  in  its  daily 
work.  Knowledge,  scholarship,  culture,  intellectual 
strength  —  these  are  all  good  and  worthy  educational 
ends,  but  dearly  bought  if  character  is  sacrificed  in 
their  pursuit,  and  at  best  but  poor  substitutes  for 
the  riches  of  character  which  constitute  the  highest 
goal  of  school  endeavor.  Whether  we  think  of  edu- 
cation from  the  standpoint  of  the  citizen  of  our 
democracy  and  the  elements  of  training  most  needed 
to  aid  him  in  using  his  citizenship  most  wisely ;  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  future  practical  man  with  a 
so-called  bread-and-butter  aim  imposed  by  stern 
necessity ;  or  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  wishes 
to  get  the  most  refined  enjoyment  out  of  his  leisure 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL  19 

through  a  liberal  acquaintance  with  music,  letters, 
and  art,  it  is  still  true  that  character  is  the  summum 
bonum,  and  the  best  guarantee  against  such  civic 
monstrosities  as  Benedict  Arnold,  such  anarchistic 
workers  as  comprise  the  leadership  of  the  I.  W.  W., 
and  such  cultured  immoral  aesthetes  as  Thaw  and 
White  of  recent  unsavory  renown. 

The  teaching  of  religion  not  in  place  in  public 
schools.  —  No  plea  is  here  made  for  religious  teach- 
ing, or  rather  for  the  teaching  of  religion,  in  the  pub- 
lic schools.  And  we  are  not  confusing  moral  instruc- 
tion with  instruction  about  morals.  Theories  of  con- 
duct and  a  philosophy  of  either  religion  or  ethics  can 
have  no  place  in  elementary  schools ;  but  even  a 
great  nation  like  France,  sometimes  thought  to  be  a 
godless  nation,  assumes  l  that  there  is  "  an  A  B  C 
of  the  conscience,"  that  "  the  early  teaching  of  those 
primordial  elements  of  morality  are  not  less  indis- 
pensable than  the  teaching  of  language  and  arith- 
metic, and  that  it  is  a  national  duty  to  transmit  pure, 
intact,  and  complete  these  first  notions  which  are  at 
the  basis  of  all  the  moral  and  social  order/'  For 
more  than  thirty  years,  therefore,  France  has  pro- 
vided a  place  for  moral  instruction  in  its  public 
schools.  We  may  not  wish  to  emulate  the  example 
of  France  in  the  method  we  use,  but  cannot  err  in 
ascribing  to  morality  the  same  high  place  in  the  social 
order  which  that  country  gives  it,  and  in  using  the 
schools  with  a  conscious  purpose  to  transmit  it  as  a 
paramount  factor  in  the  patrimony  of  mankind  to 
every  child. 

1  Ferdinand  Buisson,  Commander  in  the  Legion  of  Honor,  Paris, 
France.  In  an  address  before  the  N.  E.  A.,  Oakland,  Cal.,  1915. 


20     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Is  the  educational  ideal  of  any  people  or  epoch  a 
cause  or  an  effect  of  the  national  ideal  of  that  people  and 
period  ?     Illustrate  your  answer  with  a  number  of  ex- 
amples. 

2.  What  constant  factor  do  you  find  running  through 
all  the  aims  of  education  which  history  has  recorded  ? 

3.  Illustrate  some  of  the  changed  conceptions  of  social 
and  moral  rights  and  obligations;    i.e.,  labor,  woman's 
rights,   temperance,   slavery,   the   "double-  standard"   of 
sex-relationship,    international    consciousness.     How    do 
these    changed    conceptions    express    themselves    in    our 
schools  ? 

4.  In  what  respect  is  Germany's  system  of  education 
worthy   of  our   emulation  ?     What   makes   it   a   terrible 
warning  to  us  ? 

5.  What  educational  tendency  today  suggests  a  dan- 
gerous weakness  exhibited  by  the  Phoenicians  of  Ancient 
History  ? 

6.  Discuss  the  aim  of  education  as  stated  by  Hunting- 
ton,  showing  what  parts  of  it  seem  to  stress  the  intellec- 
tual ;  the  moral ;  the  religious ;  the  aesthetic ;  the  physical. 
Wherein  is  it  strong  ?     Wherein  weak  or  inadequate  ? 

7.  Compare  "Education  is  preparation  for  complete 
living"    with    "Education    is    participation    in    complete 
living." 

8.  Keeping  in  mind  the  healing,  the  teaching,  and  the 
preaching  of  the  Great  Teacher,  what  suggestion  do  you 
find  for  teachers  today  in  his  words,  "I  came  that  you 
might  have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly"  ? 

9.  Is  morality  as  we  understand  it  strengthened  by 
the  Christian  religion  ?     The  Jewish  ?     Can  you  say  the 
same  thing  for  other  religions  ? 

10.  Show  how  our  entrance  into  the  European  War  is 
affecting  our  educational  ideals. 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  IDEAL  21 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BAGLEY,  WILLIAM  C. :  The  Educative  Process :  The  Ethical 
Aim  of  Education,  chapter  HI.  Macmillan  Co. 

CUBBERLEY,  ELLWOOD  P. :  Changing  Conceptions  of  Educa- 
tion. Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

DAVENPORT,  EUGENE  :  Education  for  Efficiency,  chapters  v 
and  vi.  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

DEWEY,  JOHN  :  Democracy  in  Education,  chapters  VH,  vin,  ix. 
Macmillan  Co. 

JONES,  LEWIS  :  Education  as  Growth,  or  The  Culture  of  Char- 
acter. Ginn  &  Co. 

KING,  IRVING:  Education  for  Social  Efficiency,  chapter  n. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF   MORAL  EDUCATION 

Psychological  principles  of  the  learning  process 
involved.  —  If  the  presupposition  of  this  book  is  a 
sound  one,  i.e.,  that  moral  education  may  best  be 
effected  through  the  ordinary  activities  of  the  school 
rather  than  by  means  of  didactic  teaching  of  morals, 
or  a  formal  course  in  ethics,  the  psychology  of  its 
teaching  is  not  different  from  the  psychology  of 
teaching  in  general.  In  so  far  as  purely  intellectual 
processes  are  involved  in  moral  instruction,  and  the 
psychological  principles  related  to  sense-perceiving, 
formation  of  concepts,  memorizing,  judgment,  and 
reasoning  are  to  be  observed,  almost  any  of  the 
textbooks  used  in  the  teaching  of  general  educational 
psychology  will  be  found  sufficiently  helpful  as  a 
guide. 

Modern  theory  of  emotional  life  a  factor.  —  Again, 
moral  education  can  never  be  divorced  from  an  educa- 
tion of  the  emotional  life.  Hence,  any  textbook  which 
makes  sufficiently  clear  the  part  which  the  feelings 
of  pleasure  and  pain  have  to  perform  in  education 
and  life  may  be  used  with  profit  by  the  teacher  who 
would  deal  wisely  with  the  moral  life  of  her  pupils. 
The  James-Lange  theory  of  the  emotions,  at  least 
in  a  modified  form,  is  so  nearly  universally  accepted 
by  psychologists  and  thoughtful  teachers  today, 

22 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     23 

and  it  has  such  a  bearing  upon  the  moral  education 
of  children  in  home  and  school,  that  it  should  be- 
come familiar  to  every  teacher  in  the  elementary 
schools,  and  every  parent  as  well.  Very  few  psy- 
chological principles  can  be  observed  with  greater 
profit,  either  in  the  wise  discipline  and  treatment 
of  a  child,  or  in  the  self-control  of  an  adult  who 
tends  to  be  dominated  by  his  coarser  emotions. 
Its  practical  application  to  behavior  is  perhaps 
nowhere  better  stated  than  in  the  words  of  James 
himself. 

The  James-Lange  theory  quoted.  —  "  Refuse  to 
express  a  passion,  and  it  dies.  Count  ten  before 
venting  your  anger,  and  its  occasion  seems  ridiculous. 
Whistling  to  keep  up  courage  is  no  mere  figure  of 
speech.  On  the  other  hand,  sit  all  day  in  a  moping 
posture,  sigh,  and  reply  to  everything  with  a  dismal 
voice,  and  your  melancholy  lingers.  There  is  no 
more  valuable  precept  in  moral  education  than  this, 
as  all  who  have  experience  know:  if  we  wish  to 
conquer  undesirable  emotional  tendencies  in  our- 
selves, we  must  assiduously,  and  in  the  first  instance 
cold-bloodedly,  go  through  the  outward  movements 
of  those  contrary  dispositions  which  we  prefer  to 
cultivate.  The  reward  of  persistency  will  infallibly 
come,  in  the  fading  out  of  the  sullenness  or  depres- 
sion, and  the  advent  of  real  cheerfulness  and  kindli- 
ness in  their  stead.  Smooth  the  brow,  brighten 
the  eye,  contract  the  dorsal  rather  than  the  ventral 
aspect  of  the  frame,  and  speak  in  a  major  key,  pass 
the  genial  compliment,  and  your  heart  must  be 
frigid  indeed  if  it  do  not  gradually  thaw !  "  l 
1  Principles  of  Psychology ,  Vol.  II,  p.  463. 


24     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Altruistic  vs.  egoistic  feelings.  —  Among  other 
things  the  development  of  moral  character  must 
involve  the  cultivation  of  the  altruistic  feelings  as 
opposed  to  the  merely  egoistic  ones.  Through 
concrete  illustrations  unselfishness  must  be  made 
attractive  and  selfishness  repulsive.  Such  illustra- 
tions in  abundance  may  be  found  in  life,  in  history, 
in  literature,  and  in  art.  Children  can  profit  by 
a  consideration  of  the  Christian  attitude  towards 
the  weak,  the  unfortunate,  and  the  helpless,  in  con- 
trast to  pagan  ideals  and  practices  in  this  realm. 
Our  charities,  benevolences,  and  asylums  are  all 
in  marked  contrast  with  the  custom  of  the  ancient 
Spartans,  according  to  which,  e.g.?  weak,  sickly,  or 
deformed  infants  were  exposed  and  left  to  die  if 
they  gave  no  promise  of  growing  up  strong  and 
independent  and  able  to  make  a  contribution  to  the 
state.  The  modern  Christian  state  spends  its 
substance  much  more  freely  upon  the  afflicted  — 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  insane,  the  feeble- 
minded, the  indigent,  than  upon  its  normal  citizens. 

Practical  methods  of  developing  altruism.  —  Red 
Cross  societies,  associated  charities,  the  Salvation 
Army,  free  clinics,  hospitals,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and 
Y.  W.  C.  A.,  missionary  societies,  and  numerous 
other  organizations  are  institutionalized  expressions 
of  the  altruistic  impulses  and  feelings  of  man. 
School  children  develop  this  side  of  their  nature 
partly  through  an  acquaintance  with  the  work  done 
by  such  organizations,  but  more  effectively  through 
participation  in  such  work.  Hence  it  follows  that 
children,  for  their  own.  sake,  should  be  permitted 
to  have  a  share  in  the  work  of  relief  that  is  under- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     25 

taken  by  adult  organizations  out  of  school.  Floods, 
tornadoes,  fires,  famines,  pestilence,  war  —  all  great 
calamities  which  bring  great  need  of  relief  to  suffer- 
ing peoples  and  grip  the  sympathies  of  men  and 
women,  are  occasions  for  cultivating  the  moral  life 
of  children  in  the  public  schools  and  should  be  so 
used.  If  psychology  teaches  anything  it  is  that 
through  action,  through  deeds  of  mercy,  through 
service,  the  moral  life  is  quickened.  When  al- 
truistic impulses  and  feelings  are  given  adequate 
and  legitimate  expression  the  cycle  of  moral  life 
is  made  complete,  and  not  until  then.  "  No  im- 
pression without  expression  "  is  a  psychological 
truism  in  pedagogy,  but  it  seems  especially  pertinent 
in  the  moral  realm.  For  children  to  fill  baskets  for 
the  poor  at  Thanksgiving  time  or  Christmas ;  for 
them  to  contribute  to  the  relief  of  a  neighboring 
city  devastated  by  a  tornado ;  for  schools  to  take 
up  collections  for  Armenian  relief;  for  boys  in  the 
manual  training  department  to  work  extra  hours, 
even,  in  making  boxes  and  splints,  and  for  girls  in 
sewing  classes  to  make  bandages  for  use  in  Red 
Cross  work ;  for  whole  classes  and  schools  to  deny 
themselves  candy  or  ice  cream  or  the  movies  or 
something  else  for  a  limited  time  that  their  savings 
may  be  used  for  some  charitable,  benevolent,  or 
philanthropic  purpose,  is  to  give  them  moral  train- 
ing based  upon  sound  psychological  principles. 

The  place  of  instinct  in  moral  training.  --If  we 
remember  that  character-building  is  essentially  a 
matter  of  will  rather  than  mere  intelligence,  then 
the  field  of  psychology  having  the  greatest  bearing 
upon  it  at  once  becomes  more  obvious.  We  shall 


26     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

need  to  look  to  its  roots  and  springs  in  instincts 
and  impulses.  The  place  of  suggestion  needs  to 
be  understood.  The  nature  and  bearings  of  interest 
and  effort,  of  voluntary  and  of  involuntary  atten- 
tion, are  of  major  concern  to  the  teacher.  Finally, 
and  perhaps  of  greatest  importance,  the  psychology 
of  habit  must  guide  the  teacher  in  her  work. 

To  amplify  this  phase  of  our  subject  would  unduly 
lengthen  this  chapter.  Our  treatment  here  can  be 
little  more  than  suggestive.  The  teacher  should 
consult  some  of  the  numerous  books  which  treat 
the  subject  of  instinct,  impulse,  attention,  and 
habit  more  fully. 

If  we  take  the  psychology  of  instinct  we  may 
ask  ourselves :  How  can  the  elementary  school 
teacher  apply  it  to  the  problem  of  moral  education 
-  either  training  or  instruction  ?  Kirkpatrick,  in 
his  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study,  devotes  eight 
chapters  to  instincts,  and  much  that  he  says  in 
these  chapters  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  answer 
to  our  question.  Perhaps  the  most  pointed  answer, 
briefly  stated,  can  be  given  in  the  words  of  Home, 
who  suggests  that  the  teacher's  business  is  neither 
to  neglect,  nor  oppress,  nor  extirpate,  nor  instruct 
instincts,  but  to  direct  their  expression  toward 
legitimate  objects : 

"To  apply  this  principle  to  some  of  the  commoner  and 
more  representative  instincts.  Children  are  naturally 
constructive?  Then  provide  courses  in  manual  training 
and  domestic  science.  Children  are  full  of  play  ?  Then 
provide  ample  recesses  and  good  games,  and  recognize 
play  as  a  legitimate  educator  and  not  as  a  necessary 
waste  of  time.  Children  are  acquisitive  ?  Then  provide 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     27 

shelves  for  natural  history  specimens,  encourage  collec- 
tions of  stamps,  pictures,  flowers,  etc.  Children  obey 
the  group  or  gang  impulse  ?  Then  let  home  and  school 
unite  in  organizing  proper  bands  and  clubs.  Children 
have  a  curiosity  surpassing  that  of  any  creature  ?  Then 
answer  patiently  their  question  'Why?'  as  far  as  they 
are  able  to  comprehend,  and  suggest  further  related 
questions  to  engage  and  develop  their  interest.  Children 
have  primitive  fears  ?  Arouse  them,  not  by  hobgoblin 
stories,  but  make  the  unavoidable  consequences  of  wrong- 
doing such  as  justly  to  excite  their  fear.  Children  so 
easily  fly  into  a  passion  ?  When  the  fury  is  past,  show 
the  boy  some  wrong  inflicted  upon  the  innocent,  and  let 
his  anger  kindle  as  a  flame  to  right  it.  Children  are 
secretive  ?  Agree  with  them  to  keep  all  evil  reports 
about  another.  Children  are  so  emulous  of  each  other  ? 
Confront  each  one  with  his  own  weak  past  self  to  excel. 
They  are  envious  of  another's  good  fortune  ?  Point  to 
some  man  of  good  character  as  having  the  best  treasure 
and  secure  hero-worship.  And  so  on  through  the  list. 
Study  the  instincts  of  children ;  catch  them  in  the  act, 
and  direct  them  toward  a  legitimate  object.  To  do  so 
skillfully  is  actually  to  fashion  the  good  will."  l 

Establishing  habits  of  a  moral  sort  the  task  of 
parent  and  teacher.  —  If  there  is  one  aspect  of 
moral  education  more  than  another  concerning 
which  psychology  may  be  expected  to  speak  with 
assurance,  it  is  habit.  Here  we  are  upon  familiar 
ground.  Morality  is  for  the  most  part  a  matter 
of  habit,  in  thought,  in  speech,  in  action.  The  task 
of  parent  and  teacher  alike  is  to  train  children  in 
habits  of  a  moral  sort.  The  laziest  man  alive  is 
likely  to  work  at  times,  of  necessity,  and  the  most 

1  Psychological  Principles  of  Education,  pp.  268-269. 


28     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

industrious  one  ought  to  rest  from  his  labor  occa- 
sionally; but  one's  habitual  practice  determines 
whether  he  should  be  called  lazy  or  industrious.  In 
like  manner,  honest,  frugal,  temperate,  kind,  virtu- 
ous, just,  polite,  truthful,  are  adjectives  appropriately 
applied  to  individuals  whose  behavior  habitually 
exhibits  these  qualities  and  characteristics.  As 
Rowe  has  stated  :  '  Virtue  is  not  applied  to  sporadic 
or  spasmodic  plays  of  good  will.  It  must  have  the 
stability  characteristic  of  habit." 

Quotations  from  James  et  al.  -  -  Though  the 
world  has  much  more  to  say  of  bad  habits  —  pro- 
fanity, drunkenness,  etc.,  everybody  recognizes 
that  our  specific  virtues  are  built  up  as  habits  just 
as  truly  as  our  vices  are.  In  other  words,  habits 
of  the  right  sort  we  make  our  friends ;  their  op- 
posites,  our  enemies.  Shakespeare  recognized  this 
when  he  wrote,  "  Happy  is  the  man  whose  habits 
are  his  friends."  But  it  remained  for  James  to 
make  clear  to  teachers  the  neural  basis  of  habit, 
and  to  announce  that : 

"The  great  thing,  then,  in  all  education  is  to  make  our 
nervous  system  our  ally  instead  of  our  enemy." 

This  is  made  possible,  as  every  physiological  psy- 
chology now  teaches,  because  of  the  plasticity  of 
brain  cells,  and  because,  as  James  further  states, 

"  Every  smallest  stroke  of  virtue  or  of  vice  leaves  its 
never  so  little  scar" 

in  these  cells.  All  that  one  says  and  all  that  one 
does  is  recorded  in  the  molecular  structure  of  brain 
and  nerves,  making  easier  a  repetition  of  a  given 
act  because  of  the  tendency  of  a  "  '  neural  discharge' 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     29 

to  follow  the  ' pathway'   already  marked,  and,  in 
turn,  to  make  the  '  pathway '  still  more  distinct/' 
Quoting  the  same  author  once  more : 

"Nothing  we  ever  do  is,  in  strict  literalness,  ever 
wiped  out.  Of  course  this  has  its  good  side  as  well  as 
its  bad  one.  As  we  become  permanent  drunkards  by  so 
many  separate  drinks,  so  we  become  saints  in  the  moral, 
and  authorities  and  experts  in  the  practical  and  scientific 
spheres,  by  so  many  separate  acts  and  hours  of  work." 

A  well-known  teacher  and  lecturer  used  to  ex- 
press the  same  thought  by  stating  that  "  the  greatest 
thing  one  ever  does  is  himself,"  meaning  that  the 
subjective  influence  of  one's  thoughts,  and  even 
one's  acts,  is  of  greater  significance  than  the  ob- 
jective effects  intended  as  resultants  of  his  acts. 

Angell  discusses  "  Mind,  Neural  Action,  and 
Habit  "  in  a  chapter  which  he  closes  with  a  sub- 
topic,  "  Ethical  Aspects  of  Habit,"  in  which  he  says  : 

"The  moment  one  gets  clearly  in  mind  the  physiological 
nature  of  habit  and  its  basis  in  the  nervous  tissues,  its 
ominous  significance  for  morality  becomes  evident.  To 
break  up  a  bad  habit  means  not  only  to  secure  a  penitent, 
reformatory  attitude  of  mind,  ...  it  means  a  complete 
change  in  certain  parts  of  the  nervous  system,  and  this  is 
frequently  a  thing  of  utmost  difficulty  of  achievement. 
No  amount  of  good  resolution  can  possibly  wipe  out  at 
once  the  influences  of  nervous  habits  of  long  standing, 
and  if  these  habits  be  pernicious,  the  slavery  of  the  victim 
is  sure  to  be  pitiable  and  likely  to  be  permanent.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  momentous  significance  for  the  individual 
and  society  of  deeply  imbedded  habits  of  a  moral  kind 
cannot  be  overestimated.  The  existence  of  such  habits 
means  stability,  reliability,  and  a  promise  of  the  utmost 


jo  MORAL  EDUCATION;  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


:-:r.iirnBBL  I:  15  2'.'.  :  _:  :~ r-issible  bf  :r.e  to 
over  the  moral  habits  of  a  lifetime.  One  may  at 
j  be  mildly  tempted  by  the  possibilities  such  breaches 
hold  out,  hot  actual  violation  in  overt  action  is  essentially 
impossible.  The  man  who  has  been  vicious  all  his  life  is 
hardly  free  to  become  virtuous,  and  the  virtuous  man  is 
in  a  kind  of  bondage  to  righteousness.  What  one  of  us 
could  go  out  upon  the  street  and  murder  the  first  person 
we  met?  Such  action  is  literally  impossible  for  us,  so 
long  as  we  letam  our  sanity. 

"In  view  of  these  considerations,  no  one  can  over- 
estimate the  ethical  importance  of  habit.  To  make  of 
the  body,  in  which  our  habits  are  conserved,  a  friend  and 
aDy  and  not  an  enemy,  is  an  ideal  which  should  be  strenu- 
ously and  intcffiguidy  held  out  to  every  young  person. 
One  never  ^an  say  at  what  precise  moment  it  may  be- 
"  apossible  to  shake  off  a  bad  habit.  But 
with  perfect  ceitainty  that  our  nervous  tissues 
r  op  every  day  the  results  of  our  actions,  and 
is,  therefore,  sore  to  come  when  no  amount  of 
j  pious  intention  can  redeem  us  from  the  penalty 
of  oar  foDjr.  Meantime, .  .  .  this  general  advice  may  be 
gjwen:  begin  the  new  regime  at  once,  do  not  wait  for  a 
convenient  season.  If  the  result  be  not  likely  to  be 
physically  disastrous,  stop  wholly,  do  not  taper  off  Give 
yutuadf  surroundings  which  wfll  offer  the  least  possible 
temptation.  Do  not  try  merely  to  suppress  the  bad  habit. 
I:  ;•»:: :".r,  z --.  ^.rr.t-.-inj  ehc  ifhn  is  pood  in  cli:t  of 
it.  See  to  it  that  yon  are  always  occupied  in  some 
proper  way  untQ  you  fed  sure  that  the  grip  of  the  bad 


of  habit  formation  stated.  —  Teachers  and 
parents  looking  for  practical  help  in  guiding  chil- 
dren into  the  formation  of  proper  habits  or  the 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     31 

breaking  of  undesirable  ernes  will  find  the  following 
serviceable.     Suggested   in   part   by   Bain, 


they  were  definitely  formulated  by  James,  and  have 
later  been  incorporated  in  more  or  less  modified  and 
amplified  form  in  the  treatment  of  habit  by  Thorn- 
dike,  Bagley,  Home,  Rowe,  Halleck,  and  numerous 
other  writers.  Indeed,  they  have  been  preached 
from  thousands  of  pulpits,  for  ministers  no  less  than 
teachers  and  parents,  recognize  that  the  effective- 
ness of  their  work  is  to  be  measured  by  the  help 
they  give  in  establishing  good  habits  and  breaking 
bad  ones. 


in  the  acquisition  of  a  new  habit,  or  the  1 
off  of  an  old  one,  we  must  take  care  to  launch  ourselves 
with  as  strong  and  decided  an  initiative  as  possible. 
Accumulate  all  the  passible  circumstances  which  shall 
reinforce  the  right  motives ;  put  yourself 


conditions  that  encourage  the  new  way;  make  engage- 
ments  incompatible  with  the  old;  envelop  your  resolu- 
tion with  every  aid  you  know." 

Signing  the  pledge,  for  one  who  proposes  to  be 
temperate ;  or  joining  a  church,  for  one  who  intends 
to  take  a  definite  forward  step  in  the  religious  fife, 
is  acting  in  harmony  with  this  maxim.  As  Halleck 
reminds  us: 


"Many  a  person  has  stood  firm  only  became  he  ran 
away  from  dangerous  ideas.  The  companions  of  Ulysses 
were  wise  to  stop  their  ears  with  wax,  so  as  pot  to  hear  the 
soon  of  the  sirens.  Ulysses  heard,  and  his  desire  to  go 
to  them  overmastered  nun.  Had  tie  not  been  KMcdJty 
restrained,  he  would  have  perished.  Once  out  of  hear- 
ing, he  was  a  man  again." 


32     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN   SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Jesus,  the  Great  Teacher,  knew  that  men  who 
can  stand  morally  upright  under  certain  circum- 
stances may  fall  under  others;  so  he  taught  his 
disciples  to  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation." 

"Second,  never  suffer  an  exception  to  occur  till  the 
new  habit  is  securely  rooted  in  your  life.  .  .  .  Without 
unbroken  advance  there  is  no  such  thing  as  accumulation 
of  the  ethical  forces  possible,  and  to  make  this  possible, 
and  to  exercise  us  and  habituate  us  in  it,  is  the  sovereign 
blessing  of  regular  work." 

Rowe  1  has  devoted  a  chapter  of  more  than  twenty 
pages  to  a  consideration  of  methods  of  preventing 
exceptions.  These  include,  among  many  others, 
guarding  against  probable  temptations,  warning 
against  first  tendencies  to  lapse,  picturing  painful 
consequences  of  lapses,  resolving  against  lapses, 
determination  not  to  be  beaten. 

"Third,  seize  the  very  first  possible  opportunity  to 
act  on  every  resolution  you  make,  and  on  every  emotional 
prompting  you  may  experience  in  the  direction  of  the 
habits  you  aspire  to  gain.  .  .  .  No  matter  how  full  a 
reservoir  of  maxims  one  may  possess,  and  no  matter 
how  good  one's  sentiments  may  be,  if  one  have  not  taken 
advantage  of  every  concrete  opportunity  to  act,  one's 
character  may  remain  entirely  unaffected  for  the  better. 
With  mere  good  intentions,  hell  is  proverbially  paved. 

"Fourth,  don't  preach  too  much  to  your  pupils  or 
abound  in  good  talk  in  the  abstract.  Lie  in  wait  rather 
for  the  practical  opportunities,  be  prompt  to  seize  those 
as  they  pass,  and  thus  at  one  operation  get  your  pupils 
both  to  think,  to  feel,  and  to  do.  The  strokes  of  behavior 

1  Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teaching,  chap.  x.  ' 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL   EDUCATION     33 

are  what  give  the  new  set  to  the  character,  and  work  the 
good  habits  into  its  organic  tissue.  Preaching  and  talk- 
ing too  soon  become  an  ineffectual  bore. 

"Fifth,  keep  the  faculty  of  effort  alive  in  you  by  a  little 
gratuitous  exercise  every  day." 

The  moral  will  as  the  highest  expression  of  the 
moral  life.  —  But  after  all  is  said  that  can  be  said  in 
favor  of  habits  of  the  right  sort,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  even  good  habits  do  not  exhibit  the  highest 
reaches  of  morality.  It  remains  to  speak  briefly 
of  the  place  of  will  in  conduct.  It  is  this  aspect 
of  the  self,  involving  judgment,  deliberation,  choice, 
and  decision,  and,  in  the  moral  realm,  conscience, 
too,  that  is  the  crowning  glory  of  the  moral  life. 

After  making  due  allowance  for  the  place  of  in- 
stincts, impulses,  and  habits  in  our  action;  after 
granting  that  the  suggestions  that  come  from  our 
environment,  physical  and  social,  are  powerful 
determinants  of  our  conduct,  the  fact  remains  that 
a  sense  of  duty  may  be  so  strong  within  us  that  we 
may  will  to  act  in  accordance  with  its  mandates. 
Every  child  has  the  opportunity  open  to  adults 
to  train  his  will.  All  of  life  is  a  school  for  its  train- 
ing. It  involves  the  conception  of  an  ideal,  a  definite 
aim,  a  dominant  purpose,  often  sustained  attention, 
certainly  a  deep  interest  and  a  belief  in  the  worth- 
while-ness of  the  object.  It  may  mean  sacrifice 
of  temporary  pleasures  —  sometimes  of  position, 
of  money,  of  honors,  of  friends.  But  the  deepest 
satisfactions  of  life  come  with  its  exercise,  what- 
ever the  cost.  It  is  the  highest  expression  of  the 
moral  life,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  factor  in  the 
progressive  development  of  such  life. 


34     MORAL  EDUCATION   IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

As  one  writer  1  has  well  said  : 

"The  student  pushing  steadily  toward  his  goal  in  spite 
of  poverty  and  grinding  labor;  the  teacher  who,  though 
unappreciated  and  poorly  paid,  yet  performs  every  duty 
with  conscientious  thoroughness;  the  man  who  stands 
firm  in  the  face  of  temptation ;  the  person  whom  heredity 
or  circumstance  has  handicapped,  but  who,  nevertheless, 
courageously  fights  his  battle;  the  countless  men  and 
women  everywhere  whose  names  are  not  known  to  fame, 
but  who  stand  in  the  hard  places,  bearing  the  heat  and 
the  toil  with  brave,  unflinching  hearts,  —  these  are  the 
ones  who  are  developing  a  moral  fiber  and  strength  of 
will  which  will  stand  in  the  day  of  stress." 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  The  public  frequently  condemns  the  schools  because 
they   do   not   give   definite   moral   instruction.     Is   such 
criticism   heeded   by  the   leading   educators  ?     Are  they 
less  concerned  with  moral  character  than  the  public  is  ? 
Can  you  show  that  the  means  usually  proposed  by  the 
public    would    rest    upon    an    inadequate    psychological 
basis,  and  therefore  would  fail  to  bring  desired  results  ? 

2.  "It  is  futile  to  assume  that  knowledge  of  right  con- 
stitutes a  guarantee  of  doing  right."     Discuss  this  state- 
ment. 

3.  Explain     the    James-Lange    theory    of    emotions. 
Illustrate.     Show  its  bearing  upon  schoolroom  discipline. 

4.  Lowell  writes : 

"Who  gives  himself  with  his  alms  feeds  three, 
Himself,  his  hungering  neighbor,  and  me." 

Show  the  psychological   sense  in  which   one   does   feed 

himself   by    such    giving.     Show    the    values    for    moral 

education  of  school  children  in  having  them  take  part  in 

1  Betts,  The  Mind  and  Its  Education,  p.  242. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  MORAL  EDUCATION     35 

the  campaigns  for  Red  Cross  funds  and  other  activities 
made  necessary  by  the  War. 

5.  Why  does  the  average  child  of  ten  or  twelve  years 
like  manual  training  or  cooking  (if  a  girl)  so  much  better 
than  formal  grammar  ?     Which  of  the  two  subjects  does 
more  for  his  moral  education  at  that  time  ?     Why  ? 

6.  Show  the  part  played  by  the  instinct  of  imitation 
in  character-building.     From  the  standpoint  of  this  in- 
stinct, what  is  the  great  problem  of  the  school  in  educating 
children  to  be  moral  ? 

7.  How  can  the  group  or  gang  impulse  be  utilized  in 
training  children  in  the  moral  life  ?     Read  Jacob  Riis, 
How  the  Other  Half  Lives ;    Forbush,  The  Boy  Problem; 
Swift,  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Gang,  an  Educational  Asset/' 
in  Youth  and  the  Race. 

8.  Discuss  the  advantages  for  moral  training  in  the 
socialized  school,  with  a  socialized  curriculum  and  social- 
ized recitations,  as  compared  with  the  results  obtained  in 
the  older  type  of  school.     What  mental  powers  are  stimu- 
lated by  the  first  named  ?     By  the  latter  ?     Can  moral 
training  be  given  successfully  apart  from  social  situations  ? 
Justify  your  answer. 

9.  Analyze  the  phrase  force  of  character.     What  ele- 
ments do  you  find  in  it  ?     Discuss  the  character  that 
merely  lacks  specific  vices. 

10.  Show  the  psychological  truth  or  bearing  of  each  of 
the  following  quotations : 

a.  "All  are  architects  of  Fate." 

b.  "The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars, 

But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings." 

c.  "My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 

Because  my  heart  is  pure/' 

d.  "Which  way  I  turn  is  hell.     Myself  am  hell." 

e.  "Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime." 
/.    "  If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do  them." 


36     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

ANGELL,  JAMES  R. :  Psychology :  especially  chapter  xxi, 
Relation  of  Volition  to  Interest,  Effort,  and  Will;  and 
chapter  xxn,  Character  and  the  Will.  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

COLVIN  and  BAGLEY  :   Human  Behavior.     Macmillan  Co. 

DEWEY,  JOHN:  Moral  Principles  in  Education.  Riverside 
Educational  Monographs.  Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

HALLECK,  REUBEN  POST:  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture: 
especially  chapters  xi-xui,  inclusive.  American  Book  Co. 

JAMES,  WILLIAM  :  Talks  to  Teachers  and  Students  :  especially 
chapter  iv,  Education  and  Behavior;  chapter  vn,  What  the 
Native  Reactions  Are ;  chapter  vni,  The  Laws  of  Habit ; 
and  chapter  xv,  The  Will.  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

JAMES,  WILLIAM  :  Psychology :  especially  chapters  xxiv-xxvi, 
inclusive.  Henry  Holt  &  Co. 

JUDD,  C.  H. :  Psychology :  especially  chapter  vu,  Experience 
and  Expression;  and  chapter  viu,  Instinct  and  Habit. 
Scribner's. 

KIRKPATRICK,  EDWIN  A. :  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study. 
(Primarily  a  discussion  of  Instincts.)  Macmillan  Co. 

ROWE,  STUART  H. :  Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teach- 
ing. Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MORAL  TRAINING   THROUGH   THE   EXAMPLE  AND 
PERSONALITY   OF   THE   TEACHER 

Conscious  vs.  unconscious  tuition.  —  Teachers  are 
regularly  employed  to  teach  some  particular  sub- 
ject or  group  of  subjects,  but  their  greatest  value 
to  the  school  is  seldom  determined  by  what  they 
teach.  However  great  their  scholarship,  this  is  not 
likely  to  be  the  quality  that  makes  the  most  lasting 
impression  upon  their  pupils.  Children  remember 
teachers  for  what  they  are  and  not  for  what  they 
teach.  Any  one  who  appears  before  boys  and  girls 
day  after  day  in  the  classroom  will  teach  more  by 
example  than  by  precept.  He  will  irradiate  a  farther 
reaching  unconscious  influence  than  any  conscious 
instruction  can  have. 

In  a  masterly  address  that  has  become  an  educa- 
tional classic  in  its  printed  form,  Bishop  Huntington, 
years  ago,  taught  the  pedagogical  world  the  impor- 
tance of  a  teacher's  unconscious  tuition  in,  molding 
the  character  of  children.  "  Today's  simple  dealing 
with  a  raw  or  refractory  pupil,"  he  says,  "  takes  its 
insensible  coloring  from  the  moral  climate  you  have 
all  along  been  breathing.  .  .  .  Celestial  opportuni- 
ties avail  us  nothing  unless  we  have  ourselves  been 
educated  up  to  their  level.  If  an  angel  come  to 

37 


38     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

converse  with  us  on  the  mountain  top,  he  must  find 
our  tent  already  pitched  in  that  upper  air.  .  .  . 
There  is  a  touching  plea  in  the  loyal  ardor  with 
which  the  young  are  ready  to  look  to  their  guides. 
...  In  children  there  is  a  natural  instinct  and  passion 
for  impersonating  all  ideal  excellence  in  some  superior 
being,  and  for  living  in  intense  devotion  to  a  heroic 
presence.  It  is  the  privilege  of  every  teacher  to 
occupy  that  place,  to  ascend  that  lawful  throne  of 
homage  and  of  love,  if  he  will.  If  his  pupils  love 
him,  he  stands  for  their  ideal  of  a  heroic  nature. 
Their  romantic  fancy  invests  him  with  unreal  graces. 
Long  after  his  lessons  are  forgotten,  he  remains,  in 
memory,  a  teaching  power.  It  is  his  own  forfeit  if, 
by  a  sluggish,  spiritless  brain,  mean  manners,  or  a 
small  and  selfish  heart,  he  alienates  that  confidence 
and  disappoints  that  generous  hope/5 

The  best  thing  a  school  or  college  does.  —  An- 
other writer,1  briefly  discussing  the  function  of  the 
teacher,  says :  "  The  greatest  thing  a  teacher  ever 
brings  to  a  child  is  not  subject-matter,  but  the  uplift 
which  comes  from  heart  contact  with  a  great  per- 
sonality. This  should  be  the  first  prerequisite  in 
determining  the  acceptability  of  a  teacher."  The 
same  writer  refers  to  a  study  once  made  by  President 
Charles  F.  Thwing,  of  the  responses  of  fifty  repre- 
sentative men  to  questions  involving  "  the  best  thing 
college  does  for  a  man."  The  general  tenor  of  most 
of  the  replies  is  expressed  in  the  statement  that  "  the 
best  thing  which  the  American  college  has  done  for 
its  graduates  is  in  giving  a  training  which  is  itself 
largely  derived  from  personal  relationship."  This 

1  Search,  An  Ideal  School. 


EXAMPLE  AND   PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     39 

conception  of  the  matter  has  its  most  apt  illustra- 
tion in  the  saying  that  Garfield  on  one  end  of  a  log 
and  Mark  Hopkins  on  the  other  constitute  a  college. 
For  after  all,  it  is  not  buildings,  laboratories,  libraries, 
or  courses  of  study,  it  is  the  great  teachers,  that 
make  great  schools. 

The  ideal  teacher.  —  George  Herbert  Palmer  has 
written  a  little  monograph  entitled,  "  The  Ideal 
Teacher."  In  it  he  briefly  discusses  the  four  char- 
acteristics of  a  great  teacher.  They  are,  first,  an 
aptitude  for  vicariousness ;  second,  an  already  accu- 
mulated wealth ;  third,  an  ability  to  invigorate  life 
through  knowledge;  and  fourth,  a  readiness  to  be 
forgotten.  "  Having  these,"  says  the  writer,  "  any 
teacher  is  secure.  Lacking  them,  lacking  even  one, 
he  is  liable  to  serious  failure."  Now,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  the  second  and  third  characteristics  are  largely 
matters  of  scholarship  and  method,  possessions  which 
the  normal  school  and  college  can  communicate  to 
the  teacher  who  is  anxious  to  secure  them.  The 
first  and  last  are  more  nearly  matters  of  personality 
and  character,  and  therefore  less  likely  to  be  the 
possessions  of  the  rank  and  file  of  teachers.  But  it 
is  one  of  the  delights  of  a  superintendent  occasionally 
to  find  a  teacher  whose  whole  nature  is  kindled  with 
enthusiasm  for  her  work,  with  sympathy  and  love 
for  her  children,  with  a  disposition  that  radiates  sun- 
shine, with  an  ability  to  put  herself  in  the  child's 
place  and  see  his  point  of  view,  and  with  a  missionary 
spirit  that  enables  her  to  think  of  teaching  as  a  mis- 
sion and  not  a  job.  Such  a  teacher,  like  the  Great 
Teacher,  undertakes  her  task  that  children  "may 
have  life  "  and  "  have  it  more  abundantly."  She 


40     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

is  willing  to  lose  her  life  in  service  that  she  may  find 
it  again  in  the  lives  of  her  pupils.  Without  a  love 
for  children,  and  without  the  spirit  of  service  and 
of  self-sacrifice,  she  may  secure  a  teacher's  certifi- 
cate, sign  a  contract,  and  stay  on  a  pay  roll,  but 
she  can  not  be  a  really  great  and  influential  teacher. 
Her  community  may  not  be  a  diagnostician  that  can 
detect  her  weakness ;  her  pupils  may  not  be  dis- 
criminating enough  to  know  what  the  trouble  is :  but 
her  influence  for  good  can  not  be  far-reaching  unless 
she  loves  her  work  and  gladly  does  much  more  than 
can  be  prescribed  in  detail  for  her.  Shakespeare's 
characterization  of  a  schoolboy,  "  creeping  like  snail, 
unwillingly  to  school,"  is  not  applicable  to  the  chil- 
dren of  today  who  are  fortunate  in  having  a  teacher 
equipped  in  mind  and  heart  for  teaching. 

Elbert  Hubbard's  famous  epigram  prophesying  a 
time  when  children  "  will  be  neither  sent  nor  sen- 
tenced to  school,"  was  inspired  by  a  knowledge  of 
teachers  who  are  too  superficial,  too  formal,  too  lazy, 
or  too  dead  to  attract,  arouse,  and  inspire  their 
classes.  But  there  are  thousands  of  teachers  to 
whom  children  go  gladly  day  by  day,  and  from  whom 
they  get  such  an  uplift  as  comes  to  them  from  no 
other  source  in  life.  These  teachers  may  or  may 
not  be  well  trained  through  the  completion  of  courses 
in  normal  school  or  college.  Valuable  as  scholarship 
and  training  are  as  a  supplement  to  a  teacher's 
equipment,  the  college  president  was  probably  right 
when  he  said,  "  I  have  never  seen  a  success  that 
could  be  accounted  for  by  scholarship  and  training 
alone.  I  have  never  seen  a  failure  that  I  could  not 
account  for  on  other  grounds." 


EXAMPLE  AND  PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     41 

Hyde  on  personality.  —  The  word  which  is  usually 
made  to  cover  the  fundamental  and  indispensable 
qualities  of  a  teacher  is  personality.  It  is  not  easy 
to  define,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  analyze,  but  it  is  rela- 
tively easy  to  recognize.  Wise  school  boards  and 
superintendents  look  for  it  in  their  teachers  above 
all  else,  and  they  know  full  well  that  even  advanced 
degrees  are  no  evidence  of  its  presence.  Comment- 
ing upon  it,  President  Hyde  says : 

"Now,  personality  is  very  largely  a  matter  of  heredity. 
Some  people  are  born  large-natured ;  other  people  are 
born  small-souled.  The  former  are  born  to  succeed ;  the 
latter  are  born  to  fail  in  any  work  in  which  personality 
counts  for  so  much  as  it  does  in  teaching.  People  with 
these  mean  natures  and  small  souls  never  ought  to  try 
to  teach.  They  ought  to  get  into  some  strictly  me- 
chanical work  where  skilled  hands  count  for  everything 
and  warm  hearts  count  for  nothing.  Still  personality, 
though  largely  dependent  on  heredity,  is  in  great  measure 
capable  of  cultivation." 

Assuming,  then,  that  a  teacher  of  average  hered- 
itary gifts  may  make  her  own  personality,  the 
writer,  through  thirty  pages  of  an  invaluable  pres- 
entation, unfolds  the  five  answers  to  the  problem 
which  he  says  the  world  has  found.  They  are  :  the 
Epicurean,  the  Stoic,  the  Platonic,  the  Aristotelian, 
and  the  Christian.  They  will  abundantly  repay  any 
teacher  for  her  pains  in  reading  them  again  and 
again,  but  I  quote  here  the  concluding  page : 

"I  will  guarantee  personal  success  to  any  well-trained 
teacher  who  will  faithfully  incorporate  these  five  prin- 
ciples into  his  personal  life.  The  teacher  who  is  healthy 


42     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

and  happy  with  Epicurus  nights  and  mornings,  holidays 
and  vacations,  at  meal-time  and  between  meals;  who 
faithfully  fortifies  his  soul  with  the  Stoic  defenses  against 
needless  regrets  and  superfluous  forebodings;  who  now 
and  then  ascends  with  Plato  the  heights  from  which  he 
sees  the  letters  of  his  life  writ  large,  and  petty  annoyances 
reduced  to  their  true  dimensions ;  who  applies  the  Aris- 
totelian sense  of  proportion  to  the  distribution  of  his 
energy,  so  that  the  full  force  of  it  is  held  in  reserve  for 
the  things  that  are  really  worth  while,  and,  finally,  sees 
in  the  lives  of  his  scholars  the  supreme  object  for  which 
all  these  other  accumulations  and  savings  have  been 
made,  and  devotes  himself  joyfully  and  unreservedly  to 
the  common  work  he  tries  to  do  with  them,  for  them, 
and  through  them  for  their  lasting  good,  —  this  teacher 
can  no  more  help  being  a  personal  success  as  a  teacher 
than  the  sunlight  and  rain  can  help  making  the  earth 
the  fruitful  and  beautiful  place  that  it  is."  l 

A  lesson  from  Bonaventure.  —  In  Cable's  Bona- 
venture  is  presented  one  of  the  most  inspiring  ex- 
amples of  a  teacher  born  to  succeed  that  can  be 
found  in  life  or  fiction.  His  school  was  in  Grande 
Pointe,  Louisiana,  where  a  medley  of  Creoles  and 
Acadians  lived  a  primitive  life  in  great  ignorance, 
superstition,  and  distrust  of  both  English  and  educa- 
tion. Bonaventure  Deschamps  was  the  teacher,  and 
in  spite  of  obstacles  that  would  have  overpowered 
most  souls,  his  success  in  teaching  the  children  of  the 
neighborhood  was  little  less  than  miraculous.  At 
last,  from  fear  that  a  successful  public  school  and  the 
teaching  of  English  would  soon  mean  railroads,  im- 
migration, and  other  innovations  to  disturb  the 
complacency  of  the  people,  a  conspiracy  was  formed 

1  The  Teacher's  Philosophy.     Riverside  Educational  Monograph. 


EXAMPLE  AND  PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     43 

to  close  the  school  against  the  will  of  the  inspired 
teacher  and  his  tearful  pupils.  A  clever  stranger  in 
the  neighborhood  was  let  into  the  secret,  and  his 
services  enlisted  to  show  up  the  teacher  as  a  fraud. 
The  fateful  day  came  and  the  conspirators  went  to 
the  school  to  overthrow  it.  The  teacher  was  forced 
to  agree  to  close  the  school  and  leave  it  if  just  one  of 
his  pupils  should  miss  one  word  in  the  public  test 
made  that  day. 

Of  course  somebody  missed  at  last,  and  Bonaven- 
ture,  in  heart-broken  voice,  cried,  "  Everything 
lost  !  Farewell,  chil'run  !  "  "  He  opened  his  arms 
toward  them  and  with  one  dash  all  the  lesser  ones 
filled  them.  They  wept.  Tears  welled  from  Bona- 
venture's  eyes ;  and  the  mothers  of  Grande  Pointe 
dropped  again  into  their  seats  and  silently  added 
theirs." 

Then  the  unexpected  happened.  The  stranger, 
touched  by  the  pathos  of  the  teacher's  love  for  his 
school,  and  the  children's  reciprocal  love  for  him, 
arose  and  said  : 

"  I  came  out  here  to  show  up  that  man  as  a  fraud. 
But  what  do  I  find  ?  A  poor,  unpaid,  half-starved 
man  that  loves  his  thankless  work  better  than  his 
life,  teaching  what  not  one  schoolmaster  in  a  thou- 
sand can  teach ;  teaching  his  whole  school  four 
better  things  than  were  ever  printed  in  any  school- 
book,  —  how  to  study,  how  to  think,  how  to  value 
knowledge,  and  to  love  one  another  and  mankind. 
What  you'd  ought  to  have  done  was  to  agree  that 
such  a  school  should  keep  open,  and  such  a  teacher 
should  stay,  if  just  one,  one  lone  child  should  answer 
one  single  book-question  right !  " 


44     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Domsie  of  Drumtochty.  —  Ian  Maclaren  has  given 
the  world  another  teacher  worth  knowing  in  Domsie 
of  Drumtochty.1  In  most  respects  very  unlike 
Bonaventure,  like  him  "  he  gave  all  his  love  to  the 
children  "  and  "  nearly  all  his  money,  too,  helping 
lads  to  college.  He  could  detect  a  scholar  in  the 
egg,  and  prophesied  Latinity  from  a  boy  that  seemed 
fit  only  to  be  a  cowherd.  It  was  believed  that  he 
never  made  a  mistake  in  judgment,  and  it  was  not 
his  blame  if  the  embryo  scholar  did  not  come  to 
birth/'  There  are  scores  of  teachers  who  are  great 
scholars,  for  every  one  to  be  found  with  a  genuine 

Bission  for  making  scholars  out  of  his  pupils, 
omsie  clearly  belonged  to  the  latter  class.  For 
Latin  he  hunted  "  as  for  fine  gold,  and  when  he 
found  the  smack  of  it  in  a  lad  he  rejoiced  openly. 
He  counted  it  a  day  in  his  life  when  he  knew  cer- 
tainly that  he  had  hit  on  another  scholar,"  for  he 
thought  with  "  auld  John  Knox  that  ilka  scholar  is 
something  added  to  the  riches  of  the  commonwealth.'* 
But  while  "  he  had  a  leaning  to  classics  and  the  pro- 
fessions, Domsie  was  catholic  in  his  recognition  of 
'  pairts/  "  so  that  he  displayed  unfeigned  pleasure 
in  the  achievement  of  the  foreman's  son  who  made  a 
collection  of  the  insects  of  Drumtochty.  "  Generally 
speaking,  if  any  clever  lad  did  not  care  for  Latin  he 
had  the  alternative  of  beetles." 

Another  element  in  Domsie's  character  is  revealed 
in  the  efforts  he  made  to  find  money  with  which  to 
give  Geordie  Hoo  a  college  education.  Drumsheigh, 
the  boy's  neighbor,  was  importuned  for  help,  but 
was  reluctant  to  give  it,  whereupon  Domsie  said  to 

1  Beside  the  Bonnie  Briar  Bush. 


EXAMPLE  AND   PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     45 

him :  "  I've  naethin'  in  this  world  but  a  handfu'  o' 
books  and  a  ten-pound  note  for  my  funeral,  and  yet, 
if  it  was-na  I  have  all  my  brither's  bairns  tae  keep, 
I  wud  pay  every  penny  mysel' !  But  I'll  no  see 
Geordie  sent  to  the  plough,  tho'  I  gang  frae  door  to 
door.  Na,  na,  the  grass  'ill  no  grow  on  the  road 
atween  the  college  and  the  schule-house  o'  Drum- 
tochty  till  they  lay  me  in  the  auld  kirkyard  !  " 

Doctor  Strong's  appeal  to  the  honor  of  boys.  — 
One  of  the  most  lovable  characters  Dickens  has 
created  is  the  good  old  teacher,  Doctor  Strong,  in 
David  Copperfield.  He  is  represented  as  having  "  a 
simple  faith  that  might  have  touched  the  stone 
hearts  of  the  very  urns  upon  the  wall.  .  .  .  He 
appealed  in  everything  to  the  honor  and  good  faith 
of  the  boys,  and  relied  on  their  possession  of  those 
qualities  unless  they  proved  themselves  unworthy." 
One  of  his  former  pupils  said  of  him  in  later  life: 
"  When  I  was  very  young,  quite  a  little  child,  my 
first  associations  with  knowledge  of  any  kind  were 
inseparable  from  a  patient  friend  and  teacher.  .  .  . 
I  can  remember  nothing  that  I  know  without  remem- 
bering him.  He  stored  my  mind  with  its  first  treas- 
ures, and  stamped  his  character  upon  them  all.  They 
never  could  have  been,  I  think,  as  good  as  they  have 
been  to  me,  if  I  had  taken  them  from  any  other  hands." 

Helen  Keller  and  Miss  Sullivan.  —  But  we  need 
not  confine  ourselves  to  teachers  in  fiction  to  see 
fine  exhibitions  of  a  teacher's  personality  stamping 
itself  upon  the  character  and  life  of  a  pupil.  What 
finer  tribute  to  a  teacher  could  be  paid  than  the 
following  words  from  Helen  Keller  concerning  her 
teacher  and  companion,  Miss  Sullivan  ? 


46     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"At  the  beginning  I  was  only  a  little  mass  of  possi- 
bilities. It  was  my  teacher  who  unfolded  and  developed 
them.  When  she  came,  everything  about  me  breathed 
of  love  and  joy  and  was  full  of  meaning.  She  has  never 
since  let  pass  an  opportunity  to  point  out  the  beauty 
that  is  in  everything,  nor  has  she  ceased  trying  in 
thought  and  action  and  example  to  make  my  life  sweet 
and  useful. 

"It  was  my  teacher's  genius,  her  quick  sympathy,  her 
loving  tact  which  made  the  first  years  of  my  education 
so  beautiful.  It  was  because  she  seized  the  right  moment 
to  impart  knowledge  that  made  it  so  pleasant  and  ac- 
ceptable to  me.  She  realized  that  a  child's  mind  is  like 
a  shallow  brook  which  ripples  and  dances  merrily  over 
the  stony  course  of  its  education  and  reflects  here  a 
flower,  there  a  bush,  yonder  a  fleecy  cloud ;  and  she 
attempted  to  guide  my  mind  on  its  way,  knowing  that 
like  a  brook  it  should  be  fed  by  mountain  streams  and 
hidden  springs,  until  it  broadened  out  into  a  deep  river, 
capable  of  reflecting  in  its  placid  surface,  billowy  hills, 
the  luminous  shadows  of  trees  and  the  blue  heavens,  as 
well  as  the  sweet  face  of  a  little  flower. 

"Any  teacher  can  take  a  child  to  the  classroom,  but 
not  every  teacher  can  make  him  learn.  He  will  not 
work  joyously  unless  he  feels  that  liberty  is  his,  whether 
he  is  busy  or  at  rest ;  he  must  feel  the  flush  of  victory 
and  the  heart-sinking  of  disappointment  before  he  takes 
with  a  will  the  tasks  distasteful  to  him  and  resolves  to 
dance  his  way  bravely  through  a  dull  routine  of  text- 
books. 

"My  teacher  is  so  near  to  me  that  I  scarcely  think  of 
myself  apart  from  her.  How  much  of  my  delight  in  all 
beautiful  things  is  innate,  and  how  much  is  due  to  her 
influence,  I  can  never  tell.  I  feel  that  her  being  is  in- 
separable from  my  own,  and  that  the  footsteps  of  my 
life  are  in  hers.  All  the  best  of  me  belongs  to  her  — 


EXAMPLE  AND  PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     47 

there  is  not  a  talent,  or  an  aspiration,  or  a  joy  in  me  that 
has  not  been  awakened  by  her  loving  touch."  l 

Horace  Mann.  —  Horace  Mann  was  doubtless  the 
most  influential  educator  America  has  yet  produced. 
He  rendered  conspicuous  service  as  an  organizer  and 
administrator,  as  secretary  of  the  Massachusetts 
Board  of  Education,  as  a  member  of  Congress,  and 
as  president  of  Antioch  College.  Perhaps  his  fame 
rests  more  largely  upon  any  one  of  these  phases  of 
his  work  than  upon  his  teaching,  yet  it  is  significant 
that  his  biographer  pays  his  greatest  tribute  to  his 
morality,  which  must  have  been  in  evidence  what- 
ever his  work.  Hinsdale,  after  calling  attention  to 
the  first  fact  he  notes  relative  to  Mann  —  that  he 
was  not  a  theorist  and  not  a  philosopher,  says : 
"  The  second  fact  is  that  Mann's  moral  nature  domi- 
nated his  intellect  so  completely  as  to  intensify  its 
defects.  His  devotion  to  truth  and  right,  as  he  saw 
them,  his  sense  of  duty,  his  unselfishness,  his  benev- 
olence, were  very  marked.  His  moral  earnestness 
was  something  tremendous,  and  constituted  the 
first  of  the  two  great  motive  powers  of  his  life. 
Perhaps  no  man  of  his  State  and  time  was  more 
strongly  moved  by  the  modern  passion  for  social 
improvement."  2 

Arnold  of  Rugby.  —  The  teacher  who  more  than 
almost  any  other  has  left  the  most  illuminating  ex- 
ample for  the  rest  of  us  to  follow  if  we  would  mold 
character  and  influence  the  lives  of  our  pupils  for 
good,  is  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold  of  Rugby,  often  called 
"  England's  greatest  schoolmaster."  Though  he 

1  The  Story  of  My  Life,  pp.  38-40.  2  Horace  Mann,  p.  268. 


48     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

was  born  in  1795  and  died  at  the  early  age  of  47, 
his  fourteen  years  of  teaching  in  Rugby  were  of 
such  character  as  to  give  him  an  international  repu- 
tation among  scholars  and  educators.  He  knew 
how  to  combine  firmness  and  tenderness  at  all  times. 
He  had  the  courage  to  stand  by  his  convictions  even 
when  it  provoked  sharp  criticism  and  censure.  He 
made  his  primary  appeals  to  the  honor  of  his  boys, 
and  was  himself  the  soul  of  honor  at  all  times.  "  He 
trusted  the  boys  and  never  seemed  to  watch  them. 
Their  word  was  not  doubted.  '  If  you  say  so,  that 
is  quite  enough ;  of  course  I  believe  your  word/  was 
his  frequent  statement."  x  "  There  grew  up  in  con- 
sequence," says  Stanley,  "  a  general  feeling  that  it 
was  a  shame  to  tell  Arnold  a  lie  —  he  always  believes 
one." 

One  pupil  writes  of  him :  "  I  am  sure  that  I  do 
not  exaggerate  my  feelings  when  I  say  that  I  felt  a 
love  and  reverence  for  him  as  one  of  quite  awful 
greatness  and  goodness,  for  whom,  I  well  remember, 
that  I  used  to  think  I  would  gladly  lay  down  my 
life.  ...  I  used  to  believe  that  I,  too,  had  a  work 
to  do  for  him  in  the  school,  and  did,  for  his  sake, 
labor  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  set  I  lived  in." 

Another  of  the  old  Rugby  boys,  after  praising 
their  character,  a  character  which  the  school  had 
kept  to  the  day  of  his  writing,  inquired  :  "  And  what 
gave  Rugby  boys  this  character  ?  I  say,  fearlessly, 
Arnold's  teaching  and  example  —  his  unwearied 
zeal  in  creating  '  moral  thoughtfulness  '  in  every  boy 
with  whom  he  came  into  personal  contact.  He  cer- 

1  Quoted  from  Thomas  Arnold,  in  Bolton's  Famous  Leaders  Among 
Men. 


EXAMPLE  AND  PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     49 

tainly  did  teach  us  —  thank  God  for  it  !  —  that  we 
could  not  cut  our  life  into  slices  and  say,  '  In  this 
slice  your  actions  are  indifferent,  and  you  needn't 
trouble  your  heads  about  them  one  way  or  another ; 
but  in  this  slice  mind  what  you  are  about,  for  they 
are  important/  "  l 

The  teacher  today  who  looks  upon  education  as  a 
product  rather  than  a  process,  and  who  imagines 
that  a  normal  school  or  college  diploma,  or  a  first 
grade  teacher's  certificate,  makes  further  study  and 
growth  unnecessary,  may  find  the  following  words 
from  Arnold  worthy  of  consideration :  "  He  is  the 
best  teacher  of  others  who  is  best  taught  himself; 
that  which  we  know  and  love,  we  cannot  but  com- 
municate. ...  I  hold  that  a  man  is  only  fit  to 
teach  so  long  as  he  is  himself  learning  daily.  If  the 
mind  once  becomes  stagnant,  it  can  give  no  fresh 
draught  to  another  mind ;  it  is  drinking  out  of 
a  pond  instead  of  from  a  spring.  ...  I  think  it 
essential  that  I  should  not  give  up  my  own  read- 
ing, as  I  always  find  an  addition  of  knowledge 
to  turn  to  account  for  the  school  in  some  way 
or  other." 

Personality  defined.  —  McTurnan  says,  "  The 
personal  equation  in  teaching  is  manifest  not  in  the 
word,  but  in  the  emphasis ;  not  in  the  outline  of  the 
face,  but  in  its  illumination ;  not  in  the  clothes  worn, 
but  in  the  moral  atmosphere  one  carries  with  him; 
not  in  imitation,  but  in  inspiration ;  not  in  physical 
or  intellectual  strength  alone,  but  in  power."  2 

1  Thomas  Hughes,  Tom  Browns  School  Days.     Preface  to  the  Sixth 
Edition. 

2  The  Personal  Equation. 


50     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

The  best  teachers  as  seen  by  high-school  students. 
-  Some  time  ago  the  writer  received  from  five  hun- 
dred fifty  high-school  students  answers  to  a  question 
calling  for  a  list  of  the  qualities  in  teachers  which 
had  made  the  strongest  appeal  to  them.  No  quali- 
ties were  suggested,  so  it  was  necessary  for  those 
answering  to  analyze  the  character  of  teachers  in  their 
own  way.  The  replies  submitted  proved  most  in- 
teresting and  valuable  when  studied  and  tabulated. 
The  following  comment  by  the  author  was  based 
upon  them,  and  appeared  in  the  Fiftieth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Decatur,  and  later 
as  a  part  of  a  larger  study  published  in  the  Journal 
of  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  Janu- 
ary, 1916. 

"Almost  every  conceivable  characteristic  has  made 
its  appeal  to  some  student.  Even  obvious  weaknesses, 
as  measured  by  adult  standards,  have  in  a  few  cases  been 
the  conspicuously  pleasing  qualities,  though  this  is  rare. 
For  example,  one  student  was  most  favorably  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  one  of  his  teachers  smokes.  Another 
candidly  admits  that  'one  does  dislike  studying  under  a 
paragon  of  all  virtues/  But  these  are  exceptions.  Nearly 
all  students  are  discriminating  enough  to  recognize  good 
qualities  as  such,  but  their  sense  of  relative  values  is 
very  different  from  that  of  many  teachers.  Scholarship 
does  not  awe,  and  pedagogical  practices  are  not  unduly 
impressive.  Only  18  students  name  the  teacher's  knowl- 
edge of  his  subject  as  the  impressive  quality.  Two  others 
stress  the  fact  that  their  teachers  were  'very  learned/ 

"On  the  other  hand  130  specify  'willingness  to  help 
me,'  as  the  striking  quality;  'patience'  was  named  85 
times;  'kindness,'  80  times;  'clearness,'  35;  'sense  of 
humor,'  32;  'understanding  of  students,'  24;  'firmness/ 


EXAMPLE   AND   PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     51 

21 ;  'impartiality/ 24;  ' cheerfulness/  19;  'pleasantness/ 
19;  ' ability  to  make  work  interesting,'  21;  'sincerity/ 
14;  'sympathy/  16.  In  other  words,  students  like 
teachers  for  exactly  the  same  reason  that  men  and  women 
are  liked  by  groups  of  their  fellows  out  in  the  world  in 
other  relations. 

"No  amount  of  learning  and  no  amount  of 'professional 
training/  though  each  is  a  sine  qua  non,  can  atone  for  a 
lack  of  the  human  touch,  and  the  virtues  which  endear 
people  to  their  associates  in  ordinary  walks  of  life.  The 
most  scholarly  teachers,  employing  the  most  skillful 
methods,  measured  by  coldly  intellectual  standards,  must 
largely  fail  to  get  desired  results  if  they  fail  to  bring  or 
beget  the  right  emotional  atmosphere  in  the  schoolroom. 
Emotional  warmth  is  just  as  essential  to  the  growth  of 
ideas  as  physical  warmth  is  to  growth  of  plants.  Frost 
is  as  much  to  be  avoided  in  the  schoolroom  as  in  the 
garden. 

"Dignity,  culture,  correctness  of  speech,  modesty,  po- 
liteness, beauty,  thoroughness,  exactness,  quietness  — 
these  are  other  qualities  named  a  few  times,  but  where 
possessed,  even  in  large  degree,  they  have  not  impressed 
the  rank  and  file  of  students  as  they  have  adults  generally. 

"Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  teachers  should  strive 
no  less  for  scholarship  and  skill  in  the  technique  of  class- 
room instruction,  even  if  students  do  tend  to  minimize 
the  importance  of  these  qualifications ;  but  the  large 
place  pupils  give  in  their  esteem  to  the  more  personal 
and  social  qualities  of  teachers  is  evidence  that  we  miss 
our  opportunity  to  be  of  largest  service  unless  we  adjust 
ourselves  to  this  fact,  and  become  attractive  rather  than 
repellent  in  our  relations  with  our  students,  to  the  very 
largest  degree  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  attain." 

f 

Ruskin  quoted.  —  John  Ruskin  was  not  primarily 
a  teacher,  but  in  the  paragraph  here  taken  from  one 


50     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

The  best  teachers  as  seen  by  high-school  students. 
-  Some  time  ago  the  writer  received  from  five  hun- 
dred fifty  high-school  students  answers  to  a  question 
calling  for  a  list  of  the  qualities  in  teachers  which 
had  made  the  strongest  appeal  to  them.  No  quali- 
ties were  suggested,  so  it  was  necessary  for  those 
answering  to  analyze  the  character  of  teachers  in  their 
own  way.  The  replies  submitted  proved  most  in- 
teresting and  valuable  when  studied  and  tabulated. 
The  following  comment  by  the  author  was  based 
upon  them,  and  appeared  in  the  Fiftieth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Decatur,  and  later 
as  a  part  of  a  larger  study  published  in  the  Journal 
of  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision,  Janu- 
ary, 1916. 

"Almost  every  conceivable  characteristic  has  made 
its  appeal  to  some  student.  Even  obvious  weaknesses, 
as  measured  by  adult  standards,  have  in  a  few  cases  been 
the  conspicuously  pleasing  qualities,  though  this  is  rare. 
For  example,  one  student  was  most  favorably  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  one  of  his  teachers  smokes.  Another 
candidly  admits  that  'one  does  dislike  studying  under  a 
paragon  of  all  virtues/  But  these  are  exceptions.  Nearly 
all  students  are  discriminating  enough  to  recognize  good 
qualities  as  such,  but  their  sense  of  relative  values  is 
very  different  from  that  of  many  teachers.  Scholarship 
does  not  awe,  and  pedagogical  practices  are  not  unduly 
impressive.  Only  18  students  name  the  teacher's  knowl- 
edge of  his  subject  as  the  impressive  quality.  Two  others 
stress  the  fact  that  their  teachers  were  'very  learned/ 

"On  the  other  hand  130  specify  'willingness  to  help 
me,'  as  the  striking  quality;  'patience'  was  named  85 
times;  'kindness,'  80  times;  'clearness,'  35;  'sense  of 
humor,'  32;  'understanding  of  students,'  24;  'firmness/ 


EXAMPLE   AND   PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER     51 

21 ;  'impartiality/ 24;  ' cheerfulness/  19;  t pleasantness,' 
19;  ' ability  to  make  work  interesting/  21;  'sincerity/ 
14;  'sympathy/  16.  In  other  words,  students  like 
teachers  for  exactly  the  same  reason  that  men  and  women 
are  liked  by  groups  of  their  fellows  out  in  the  world  in 
other  relations. 

"No  amount  of  learning  and  no  amount  of 'professional 
training/  though  each  is  a  sine  qua  non,  can  atone  for  a 
lack  of  the  human  touch,  and  the  virtues  which  endear 
people  to  their  associates  in  ordinary  walks  of  life.  The 
most  scholarly  teachers,  employing  the  most  skillful 
methods,  measured  by  coldly  intellectual  standards,  must 
largely  fail  to  get  desired  results  if  they  fail  to  bring  or 
beget  the  right  emotional  atmosphere  in  the  schoolroom. 
Emotional  warmth  is  just  as  essential  to  the  growth  of 
ideas  as  physical  warmth  is  to  growth  of  plants.  Frost 
is  as  much  to  be  avoided  in  the  schoolroom  as  in  the 
garden. 

"Dignity,  culture,  correctness  of  speech,  modesty,  po- 
liteness, beauty,  thoroughness,  exactness,  quietness  — 
these  are  other  qualities  named  a  few  times,  but  where 
possessed,  even  in  large  degree,  they  have  not  impressed 
the  rank  and  file  of  students  as  they  have  adults  generally. 

"Finally,  it  may  be  said  that  teachers  should  strive 
no  less  for  scholarship  and  skill  in  the  technique  of  class- 
room instruction,  even  if  students  do  tend  to  minimize 
the  importance  of  these  qualifications ;  but  the  large 
place  pupils  give  in  their  esteem  to  the  more  personal 
and  social  qualities  of  teachers  is  evidence  that  we  miss 
our  opportunity  to  be  of  largest  service  unless  we  adjust 
ourselves  to  this  fact,  and  become  attractive  rather  than 
repellent  in  our  relations  with  our  students,  to  the  very 
largest  degree  that  it  is  possible  for  us  to  attain." 

Ruskin  quoted.  —  John  Ruskin  was  not  primarily 
a  teacher,  but  in  the  paragraph  here  taken  from  one 


54     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

subterfuge  of  a  teacher  who  is  not  big  enough  and 
sincere  enough  to  say  she  does  not  know  when  she 
doesn't  know.  It  is  a  vain  and  fatuous  sort  of 
camouflage  to  try  to  hide  ignorance  behind  an  in- 
junction to  the  class  to  "  look  that  up  and  report 
tomorrow."  This  does  not  at  all  mean  that  there 
are  not  frequent  occasions  for  developing  a  healthful 
curiosity  in  a  class  that  may  well  take  a  day  or  more 
in  finding  its  satisfaction  concerning  a  topic  worthy 
of  further  study  and  research.  But  honesty  is  the 
best  policy  for  the  teacher  in  matters  intellectual  as 
truly  as  for  every  man  in  financial  and  business 
dealings  with  his  associates. 

There  are  teachers,  many  of  them,  who  teach  their 
best  moral  lessons  by  their  own  lives  without  a  word 
concerning  the  virtues  they  embody.  Politeness, 
kindliness,  loyalty,  cheerfulness,  optimism,  sym- 
pathy, justice,  patriotism,  respect  for  age,  for  those 
in  authority,  reverence  for  God  —  these  and  other 
virtues  in  their  lives  radiate  their  influence  at  all 
times.  They  create  an  atmosphere  that  is  genial 
and  favorable  for  growth.  The  power  of  suggestion 
and  the  strength  of  the  imitative  instinct  in  children 
make  it  possible  for  much  that  is  best  in  the  character 
of  the  teacher  to  be  "  caught  rather  than  taught." 
Such  a  teacher's  value  to  the  school  can  never  be 
measured  by  the  importance  and  the  popularity  of 
the  subject  she  is  hired  to  teach.  Indeed,  it  is  well 
for  every  teacher  to  bear  in  mind  that,  whether  good 
or  bad,  she  is  in  a  very  large  sense  the  course  of 
study  herself,  and  the  only  one  that  all  her  pupils 
will  really  take  and  understand.  Without  sacrilege 
it  can  be  said  of  her  that  if  she  is  wholly  worthy  of 


EXAMPLE  AND  PERSONALITY  OF  TEACHER      55 

her  place  as  teacher  and  spiritual  guide,  she  must 
be  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life  "  to  the  children 
she  teaches  day  by  day. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Comment  upon  the  following:    "Character  must  be 
caught,  not  taught." 

2.  Comment   upon   the  quotations   from   Huntington, 
Palmer,  Hyde. 

3.  Read  Cable's  Bonaventure.     What  do  you  think  of 
the  teaching  ideal  there  held  up  ? 

4.  Does   Domsie  of  Drumtochty   deserve   a   place   in 
present-day  schools  as  an  ideal  ? 

5.  Read  Dickens  as  an  Educator,  by  Hughes,    and    es- 
timate the  pedagogical  values  of  such  teachings  as  are 
therein    illustrated.     Dr.    Strong    is    but    one    of   many 
characters   Dickens  has  created   for  the  illumination  of 
the  theme  of  this  chapter. 

6.  Why  does  a  knowledge  of  Miss  Sullivan's  attitude 
towards  Helen  Keller  make  you  more  patient  and  sym- 
pathetic with  children  who  are  handicapped  by  nature 
or  environment  ? 

7.  Discuss  the  influence  of  Arnold  upon  English  schools. 

8.  With  a  list  of  the  likable  qualities  in  teachers  as 
seen  by  high-school  students  as  a  measuring  stick,  make 
a   self-examination   and   decide  wherein   you   may   seem 
strong,  and  wherein  weak,  as  a  teacher. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BELL,  SANFORD:  A  Study  of  the  Teacher's  Influence.  Peda- 
gogical Seminary,  Vol.  VII. 

BENSON,  ARTHUR  C. :  The  Personality  of  the  Teacher.  Educa- 
tional Review,  Vol.  XXXVII,  pp.  217-230. 


56     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

CABLE,  GEO.  W. :   Bonaventure.     Scribner's. 

ENGLEMAN,  J.  O. :  Likable  Qualities  in  Teachers.     Educational 

Administration  and  Supervision,  January,  1916,  and  Journal 

of  Education,  April  6,  1916. 
HUGHES,  JAMES  L. :   Dickens  as  an  Educator.     D.  Appleton  & 

Co.    'r 

HUGHES,  THOMAS  :  Tom  Brown's  School  Days. 
HYDE,  WILLIAM  DEWirr :  The  Teacher's  Philosophy.     Hough- 
ton  Mifflin  Co. 

KELLER,  HELEN  :  The  Story  of  My  Life.    Doubleday,  Page  &  Co. 
MACLAREN,  IAN  :   Beside  the  Bonnie  Briar  Bush.     Dodd,  Mead 

&Co. 
MARCUS  AURELIUS  ANTONINUS,  Selections  from  the  Thoughts  of, 

in  Monroe's  Source  Book  of  the  History  of  Education,  pp. 

377-385.     Macmillan  Co. 
McTuRNAN,  LAWRENCE  :    The  Personal  Equation.     Atkinson, 

Mentzer  &  Grover  Co. 
WEST,  ANDREW  FLEMING:    The  Personal  Touch  in  Teaching. 

Educational  Review,  Vol.  XXXVI,  pp.  109-120. 
WRAY,  ANGELINA  W. :   Glimpses  of  Child  Nature,  chapter  xn. 

Public  School  Publishing  Co. 


CHAPTER  V 

MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH   SCHOOL 
DISCIPLINE 

Discipline  as  a  means  to  an  end.  -  -  There  is  a 
whole  catalogue  of  virtues  and  moral  elements 
which  the  school  must  seek  to  establish  and 
strengthen  in  its  pupils.  Perhaps  the  most  of  them, 
and  the  best  of  them,  are  secured  through  instruc- 
tion, recitation,  study  of  lessons,  personal  example 
of  the  teacher,  opening  exercises,  playground  ac- 
tivities, and  so  on.  Many  of  these  are  treated  at 
greater  length  in  other  chapters.  But  the  point 
to  observe  here  is  that  discipline  as  a  means  to  an 
end,  discipline  as  an  auxiliary  of  teaching,  offers  its 
opportunity  to  strengthen  or  weaken  certain  moral 
habits  to  such  a  degree  that  what  a  teacher  does  or 
fails  to  do  with  a  pupil  under  certain  circumstances 
may  more  profoundly  affect  his  moral  life  than 
much  of  her  instruction  and  didactic  teaching  can 
affect  it. 

An  illustration.  —  For  example,  suppose  the  case 
of  a  petted,  spoiled  only  child  from  some  home.  He 
may  be  selfish  and  self-centered  in  the  extreme. 
He  enters  school  and  brings  with  him  all  his  egoistic 
attitudes  and  habits. 

He  resents  authority.  He  expects  everybody  to 

57 


58     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

bend  to  his  will.  He  is  a  social  nonconformist.  If 
the  teacher  is  alert  and  wise,  her  discipline  of  such 
a  child  will  probably  give  him  a  lesson  he  needs 
more  than  he  needs  any  formal  instruction  in  the 
ordinary  branches  of  the  curriculum.  Fortunately 
for  the  child,  if  the  teacher  should  overlook  her 
opportunity  to  deal  with  him  as  he  needs,  the  esprit 
'de  corps  of  the  children  and  the  democracy  of  the 
playground  are  such  as  to  contribute  largely  to 
this  end.  Indeed,  certain  moral  qualities  are  cul- 
tivated, and  their  opposite  vices  eradicated,  more 
successfully  on  the  playground  than  in  the  class- 
room, as  we  have  shown  in  chapter  xiv.  But  any 
teacher  will  be  more  efficient  if  she  look  upon  her 
problems  of  discipline,  not  merely  as  so  many  ob- 
stacles interfering  with  the  frictionless  running  of 
the  school  machine,  but  as  exhibitions  of  specific 
pathological  moral  conditions  for  which  either 
prophylactic  or  curative  treatment  must  be  found 
suited  to  the  individual  need.  She  may  teach  a 
splendid  lesson  in  literature  whose  moral  is  obvious, 
but  many  members  of  the  class  are  in  no  immediate 
need  of  such  a  lesson.  She  expects  the  lesson  to  be 
appropriated  by  the  several  children  according  to 
their  respective  needs,  some  needing  little  or  none 
of  it.  But  the  teacher  who  is  shrewd  and  patient 
enough  to  deal  with  every  breach  of  discipline  and 
every  immoral  act  exhibited  by  her  pupils  is  giving 
a  type  of  training  in  morality  more  direct  and 
pointed  in  its  moral  bearing  than  her  classroom 
instruction  can  possibly  be.  As  William  Hawley 
Smith  might  say  it,  "  She  is  putting  the  grease 
where  the  squeak  is." 


THROUGH  SCHOOL  DISCIPLINE  59 

Popular  estimate  of  the  good  disciplinarian.  — 

It  has  long  been  a  popular  notion  that  a  teacher's 
value  is  determined  as  much  by  her  ability  to  disci- 
pline as  to  instruct  her  pupils.  But  discipline  is 
popularly  regarded  as  keeping  order,  or  eliminating 
outward  disorder  and  compelling  obedience  to  the 
rules  and  regulations  of  the  school  and  of  the  teacher 
in  particular.  While  this  is  not  a  very  high  con- 
ception of  the  term  discipline,  it  may  rightly  be 
regarded  as  the  first  step  towards  the  goal  which 
every  teacher  must  keep  in  mind.  No  instruction 
can  count  for  much,  and  no  training  can  be  made 
very  effective,  in  a  schoolroom  where  lawlessness 
and  chaos  reign.  Confusion,  disorder,  and  dis- 
obedience are  not  conducive  to  a  good  school. 
They  interfere  with  the  successful  accomplishment 
of  every  lesson,  whatever  its  aim;  but  more  than 
that,  they  are  factors  which  constitute  the  very 
antithesis  of  the  moral  ideas,  ideals,  and  habits 
which  the  school  should  constantly  strive  to  build 
up  in  its  pupils.  "  Obedience  is  better  than  sacri- 
fice/' and  it  is  better  than  a  good  many  other 
things  which  may  seem  attractive  to  the  thought- 
less child. 

What  constitutes  good  discipline.  —  But  obedience 
can  be  compelled  by  certain  types  of  teachers  with- 
out resulting  in  growth  in  moral  lines.  The  teacher's 
problem  is  to  make  obedience  to  law  and  order 
attractive;  to  train  pupils  to  want,  or  will,  to  do 
right;  to  lead  them  to  choose  the  right  when  the 
opportunity  is  theirs  to  choose  an  opposite  course. 
Any  other  type  of  obedience  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered moral  in  its  essence,  though  it  may  be  a 


60     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

necessary  condition  for  the  realization  of  that  aim 
through  other  teaching. 

The  teacher  whose  pupils  do  not  gradually  learn 
lessons  of  self-control,  of  respect  for  the  rights  of 
others,  of  willing  and  cheerful  obedience  to  au- 
thority; whose  pupils  do  not  more  and  more  tend 
to  inhibit  impulses  prompting  anarchy  and  mischief 
when  the  teacher's  eye  is  turned  away  from  them  — 
is  not  developing  the  moral  strength  in  them  to  which 
they  are  entitled.  Too  often  she  does  not  develop 
it  because  she  fails  to  recognize  its  importance  and 
fails  to  understand  the  bearing  which  the  child's 
daily  conduct,  and  her  reaction  to  it,  may  ultimately 
have. 

The  best  guarantee  of  good  discipline.  —  The 
young  teacher  may  already  be  asking  herself, 
'  What  is  the  secret  of  good  discipline  ?  And  how 
may  it  be  attained  ?  "  The  answer  is,  "  There  is 
no  secret ;  and  no  rules  can  be  laid  down  which  will 
work  equally  well  for  all  teachers."  But  the  best 
guarantee  of  good  discipline  is  an  enthusiastic,  well- 
prepared  teacher,  interested  in  the  subjects  she  is 
to  teach;  interested,  too,  in  boys  and  girls;  skill- 
ful in  the  conduct  of  her  recitations,  and  no  less 
skillful  in  assigning  worth-while  tasks.  It  is  the 
idle  child  who  causes  trouble ;  and  it  is  the  child 
whose  tasks  seem  to  have  no  particular  importance 
other  than  to  keep  him  busy  that  first  becomes 
idle,  and  then  busy  with  trouble-making.  As  you 
look  back  over  your  own  experience  as  students, 
you  can  probably  recall  certain  teachers  whose 
teaching  was  such  that  you  seldom  or  never  thought 
of  doing  anything  they  would  not  approve.  On 


THROUGH  SCHOOL   DISCIPLINE  61 

the  other  hand,  you  may  recall  one  whose  work  was 
such  as  to  stir  your  worst  impulses  daily  because  so 
little  of  life,  of  interest  to  you,  of  real  worth  to  any 
one  was  going  on.  You  may  have  wanted  to  "start 
something "  just  because  nothing  seemed  to  be 
going  on. 

But  every  teacher  knows  that  there  are  problems 
of  discipline  which  even  the  best  teacher  must  face 
from  time  to  time.  Twenty-five  normal  children 
associated  daily  in  schoolroom  and  playground 
relationships  for  a  period  of  six  or  eight  or  nine 
months  are  sure  to  exhibit  within  the  school  year 
most  of  the  sins  of  omission  and  commission  that 
are  known  and  practiced  by  any  children.  It  would 
be  strange  if  there  were  no  need  of  dealing  with  an 
occasional  case  of  lying,  cheating,  fighting,  cruelty, 
vulgarity,  profanity,  willful  disobedience,  smoking, 
laziness,  uncleanliness,  truancy,  and  shirking.  Vary- 
ing degrees  of  immorality  characterize  the  acts  here 
named.  Each  one  offers  the  teacher  an  opportunity 
to  deal  with  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  child  may 
acquire  some  moral  strength  at  the  point  at  which 
he  has  shown  himself  weak.  Or  it  may  be  ignored, 
or  dealt  with  in  such  an  inadequate  or  inappropriate 
way  as  to  contribute  nothing  to  the  moral  fiber  of 
the  child,  and  in  some  cases  may  even  leave  him 
morally  weaker  than  before. 

Teacher  must  not  shirk  unpleasant  duties.  — 
The  first  principle  to  observe  here  is  this  :  That  the 
teacher  must  not  fail  to  deal  with  every  such  case 
that  comes  to  her  attention,  however  unpleasant 
and  disagreeable  the  task.  To  ignore  it  may  be  far 
easier  for  the  teacher,  but  the  character  of  the  child 


62     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

is  at  stake,  so  something  must  be  done.  Habits 
of  the  above  kinds  must  be  prevented  or  broken  up. 
To  ignore  the  act  is  to  help  to  confirm  and  to  fix 
the  immoral  habit  and  to  mar  character.  As 
teachers,  we  need  to  feel  at  least  as  much  distress 
of  mind  and  personal  reproach  when  our  children 
are  guilty  of  lapses  from  the  standard  of  morality 
which  ought  to  characterize  their  degree  of  maturity, 
as  when  they  fail  to  "  pass  "  in  their  subjects  of 
study.  We  certainly  ought  to  study  as  diligently 
to  find  a  way  to  help  the  child  grow  strong  in  some 
moral  quality  in  which  we  know  him  to  be  weak, 
as  to  help  another  child  attain  a  satisfactory  scholas- 
tic standing  when  he  proves  himself  below  grade  in 
it.  Usually  we  do  not  feel  the  same  responsibility 
in  two  such  cases.  Indeed  we  too  often  react  to 
them  in  very  different  ways.  In  the  latter  case 
we  are  likely  to  be  sympathetic  with  the  weakness 
and  anxious  to  help  overcome  it ;  while  in  the  former 
we  too  often  become  unsympathetic,  sometimes 
unnecessarily  severe,  and  not  infrequently  we  erect 
a  barrier  between  ourselves  and  the  child  whose 
very  delinquency  constitutes  our  problem  and  sets 
for  us  our  most  important  task.  It  is  not  easy  to 
love  a  bad  boy,  or  girl  either,  but  there  is  none  who 
needs  our  love  and  help  more ;  and  if  we  regard  his 
badness  as  a  weakness  of  character  needing  treat- 
ment, and  not  as  a  personal  affront,  or  a  personal 
attack  upon  our  dignity,  prerogatives,  and  rules, 
it  will  be  easier  to  deal  with  him  as  he  deserves. 

Motives  must  be  considered.  —  A  second  prin- 
ciple to  observe  is  :  Take  time  to  learn  the  mo- 
tive back  of  the  act.  The  successful  teacher  from 


THROUGH   SCHOOL    DISCIPLINE  63 

the  standpoint  of  character-building  is  not  in  haste 
in  dealing  with  infractions  of  rules,  breaches  of 
discipline,  and  apparently  immoral  acts.  She  can 
afford  to  wait  until  she  knows  the  facts  in  the  case. 
She  cannot  afford  to  humiliate  or  punish  the  in- 
nocent. Nothing  so  embitters  a  child's  spirit  as 
the  feeling  that  he  has  been  misjudged  and  mis- 
treated. A  boy  who  gets  from  his  teacher  what 
he  knows  in  his  own  heart  he  deserves,  seldom  loses 
respect  for  the  teacher  who  gives  it,  however  severe 
it  may  be  at  the  time;  but  it  takes  weeks,  and 
sometimes  years,  for  a  child  to  recover  from  the 
personal  hurt  he  feels  if  a  teacher  speaks  a  sharp 
word  or  inflicts  in  haste  and  anger  an  unmerited 
punishment. 

Importance  of  self-control  in  the  teacher.  —  It 
is  as  well  for  the  teacher  as  for  the  child  to  know 
that  "  He  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  is  greater  than 
he  that  taketh  a  city."  It  is  even  more  obligatory 
for  the  teacher  than  for  the  child  to  govern  his 
conduct  in  the  light  of  this  proverb.  Papers  are 
due  at  a  certain  hour,  but  one  child  is  not  ready 
with  his.  Without  waiting  for  an  explanation,  and 
without  giving  the  child  an  opportunity  to  make 
one,  the  quick,  sharp  tongue  of  the  teacher  ad- 
ministers a  stinging  reprimand  or  rebuke  that  cuts 
to  the  quick  in  the  soul  of  the  child.  Sickness  in 
the  home  and  the  assumption  of  new  duties  in  the 
home  as  a  result  —  duties  whose  performance  was 
vastly  more  imperative  and  more  praiseworthy 
than  the  writing  of  the  paper  could  have  been,  was 
the  legitimate  excuse.  But  the  teacher  has  lost 
her  opportunity  to  laud  a  moral  act,  and  has  been 


64     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

guilty  of  an  immoral  one  herself,  thus  estranging 
from  her  an  innocent  child,  and  lowering  herself 
in  the  esteem  of  the  whole  class,  which  is  quick  to 
recognize  and  resent  injustice  on  the  teacher's  part. 

Not  only  the  motive,  but  the  degree  of  provocation 
and  the  strength  of  the  temptation  of  the  child,  need 
to  be  understood  before  the  teacher  can  act  intelli- 
gently, and  helpfully  to  the  offender.  But  when 
these  facts  have  been  learned  she  cannot  afford 
to  be  lax  in  the  performance  of  her  duty  through 
fear  or  favor.  It  is  her  business  to  see,  if  possible, 
that  the  child  shall  reap  as  he  has  sown. 

Punishment  should  be  reformative,  not  retribu- 
tive. —  But  even  here  a  third  principle  needs  to 
be  observed,  namely :  That  punishment  in  the 
schoolroom  should  be  reformative,  and  not  merely 
retributive.  In  granting  this  principle  we  are  only 
asserting  that  a  child  who  needs  punishment  in 
school  is  entitled  to  the  same  consideration  that 
criminals  are  now  accorded  by  intelligent  wardens 
in  our  leading  penal  institutions.  Here  every 
effort  is  made  through  work,  recreation,  music, 
books,  magazines,  lectures,  and  sermons  to  reform 
the  prisoner.  Crime  is  thought  of  as  a  disease, 
as  something  pathological,  demanding  treatment 
that  will  restore  a  normal  condition  once  more. 
It  is  not  even  assumed  that  a  convict  is  without 
honor.  Thomas  Mott  Osborne,  at  Sing  Sing,  has 
already  taught  the  world  that  the  "  honor  system  " 
is  not  impractical  even  in  a  penitentiary.  How 
much  more  may  we  expect  that  ordinary  public 
school  children  will  respond  to  treatment  which 
appeals  to  their  honor  ! 


THROUGH  SCHOOL    DISCIPLINE  65 

Punishment  should  be  suited  to  the  individuality 
of  the  child.  —  It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that 
treatment  which  is  reformative  for  one  child  guilty 
of  a  given  offense,  may  be  wholly  unsuited  to  the 
needs  of  another  whose  offense  appears  to  be  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  first.  I  recall  a  school  of  my 
boyhood  in  which  the  teacher  made  a  rule  requiring 
all  pupils  who  had  whispered  without  permission 
to  remain  in  at  recess,  the  pupils  being  placed  on 
their  own  honor  to  stay  in  when  they  had  whispered. 
On  one  occasion  a  boy,  ordinarily  dutiful  and  obedient, 
was  seen  to  stay  in  his  place  when  most  of  the  pupils 
went  out  at  recess.  The  teacher,  surprised  to  see 
him  a  self-confessed  whisperer,  went  to  him,  asked 
why  he  was  there,  and  then  said,  "  You  may  be 
excused  now,  but  I  hope  you  won't  whisper  again." 
This  simple  treatment  of  the  case  melted  him  to 
tears,  and  was  probably  the  most  efficacious  punish- 
ment that  could  have  been  administered  to  him ; 
but  there  were  other  boys  in  the  same  school  that 
would  have  boasted  under  similar  circumstances 
of  how  "  easy  "  the  teacher  was,  and  how  he  was 
"  worked."  Certain  it  is  that  that  teacher  knew 
some  of  his  boys  well  enough  not  to  try  to  break 
up  an  objectionable  habit  of  theirs  by  such  gentle 
means.  The  principle  holds.  It  always  pays  to 
study  the  individual  child  —  his  training  and  his 
temperament  —  and  then  to  resort  to  such  dis- 
ciplinary measures  as  will  be  most  effective  in  his 
case,  regardless  of  what  may  be  required  to  accom- 
plish this  purpose  with  another  child. 

Arnold  Tompkins  quoted.  —  Arnold  Tompkins, 
in  his  very  philosophical  little  volume  on  School 


66     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Management,  a  generation  ago,  made  it  clear  that 
the  problem  of  all  discipline  is  to  enable  the  student 
to  become  at  one  with  himself,  and  in  unity  with 
the  school  once  more  His  immoral  acts  have  broken 
the  unity  and  it  must  be  restored.  The  pupil  is 
not  to  say  to  the  teacher,  "  I  have  broken  a  law; 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it  ?  "  But  the 
teacher  must  throw  the  responsibility  and  worry 
where  it  belongs  —  upon  the  head  of  the  offender. 
He  must  find  an  answer  to  the  question,  "  What 
am  I  to  do  about  it  ?  "  Perhaps  it  will  be  necessary 
for  him  to  remain  out  of  class  a  few  hours,  or  even 
out  of  school  a  few  days,  while  he  wrestles  with 
his  own  spirit  and  endeavors  to  find  an  answer  to 
his  question.  He  can  well  afford  to  specialize  in 
this  subject  for  a  time,  for  in  so  doing  he  will  help 
to  purge  his  own  soul.  His  acts  have  broken  the 
spiritual  unity  of  the  school.  Only  his  can  restore  it. 
Children  profit  by  seeing  their  acts  universalized. 
—  But  the  average  child  has  never  been  analytical 
enough  in  his  thinking  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  • 
the  school  is  a  spiritual  unity ;  that  the  laws  of  the 
school  are  not  arbitrary,  but  moral  laws ;  that  con- 
formity to  these  laws  is  demanded  of  every  one, 
not  because  of  the  whim  or  caprice  of  the  teacher, 
but  because  of  their  universal  obligation  and  ap- 
plication. He  needs  to  be  led  to  see  this  truth  when 
the  occasion  is  offered.  His  acts  must  be  uni- 
versalized before  he  can  see  their  significance. 
Perhaps  he  has  played  truant  for  a  half  day.  The 
spirit  that  actuated  him  was  individual  and  selfish 
when  he  did  it.  But  truancy  universalized  ab- 
solutely destroys  the  school.  There  are  no  longer 


THROUGH  SCHOOL    DISCIPLINE  67 

any  pupils  and  need  be  no  teacher  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. If  one  child  may  stay  away,  all  may 
stay  away.  No  one  child  has  a  right  not  possessed 
by  the  rest.  If  there  is  to  be  a  school,  there  is  a 
moral  obligation  resting  upon  every  child  to  be 
present.  Denying  this  obligation  destroys  the 
school. 

Perhaps  the  offense  is  that  of  throwing  paper 
wads.  It  looks  innocent  enough  to  the  thoughtless 
child.  But  he  must  be  made  to  see  that  such  indoor 
sport  is  denied  him,  not  because  it  is  so  bad  in  it- 
self, but  because  such  conduct,  if  universalized, 
would  destroy  the  school.  In  fact,  as  a  pupil  ma- 
tures in  his  thinking  he  must  gradually  measure 
and  judge  his  acts  and  his  intended  acts  by  this 
standard :  "  If  every  pupil  were  to  exercise  the 
right  to  do  as  I  am  doing,  would  it  make  the  school 
better  or  worse  ?  Could  there  be  any  school  under 
such  conditions  ?  "  He  will  not  necessarily  be- 
come moral  in  his  conduct  because  he  sees  this 
truth,  but  its  clear  perception  by  him  is  often  the 
first  necessary  step  for  him  to  take  before  he  can 
give  cheerful  obedience  to  the  laws  of  the  school. 

Corporal  punishment  sometimes  necessary.  — 
Reason,  moral  suasion,  sympathy,  and  love  are  not 
the  only  factors,  however,  deserving  a  place  in  the 
discipline  of  a  school.  "  Soft  "  methods  will  often 
get  results,  but  not  always.  Some  children  must 
be  reached  through  bodily  sensations  of  pain  and 
discomfort.  Corporal  punishment  is  sometimes  nec- 
essary. When  it  is  needed,  it  is  a  great  misfortune 
for  the  child  himself  if  a  statute  of  the  state  or  a 
rule  of  the  board  of  education  keeps  the  teacher  from 


68     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN   SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

administering  it.  "  Spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the 
child  "  is  a  maxim  reminiscent  of  the  days  when 
child  psychology  was  little  known,  and  discipline 
was  harsh,  often  cruel,  and  essentially  blind  and 
corporeal.  But  it  cannot  safely  be  abandoned 
today  just  because  injustice  was  often  wrought  in 
its  name.  When  other  means  fail  this  one  may  suc- 
ceed. An  occasional  child  can  be  found  who  seems 
to  have  respect  for  nothing  short  of  superior  force. 
Bodily  pain  may  deter  such  a  pupil  from  wrongdoing 
and  compel  an  outward  conformity  to  legitimate 
authority  long  enough  to  permit  the  cultivation  of 
an  inward  state  appropriate  to  it. 

Though  corporal  punishment  is  really  necessary 
at  times,  it  must  be  administered  with  caution,  ana 
always  with  a  reformative  end  in  mind.  It  is 
hazardous  to  inflict  it  in  anger.  There  is  at  such 
times  a  grave  danger  that  it  may  be  cruelly  ex- 
cessive; that  actual  bodily  violence  and  lasting 
injury  may  be  done  the  child.  It  ought  not  be 
done  in  the  presence  of  the  school.  This  is  such  a 
humiliating  act  that  the  otherwise  beneficent  results 
to  be  expected  are  likely  to  be  offset  by  the  resent- 
ment aroused  under  such  circumstances.  Much 
better  is  it  to  seek  the  privacy  of  the  principal's 
office,  or  the  classroom  after  the  school  has  been 
dismissed,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of  one  or  two 
witnesses,  to  inflict  such  punishment  as  may  be 
deserved. 

Forms  of  punishment  to  avoid.  — [Boxing  a  child's 
ears  and  slapping  a  child  in  the  face  are  so  fraught 
with  danger  to  his  hearing  on  the  one  hand,  and  so 
provocative  of  anger  and  desire  for  revenge  on  the 


THROUGH  SCHOOL    DISCIPLINE  69 

other,  that  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  any  moral 
good  can  ever  result  from  such  punishment.  For, 
whatever  the  form  of  punishment,  its  object  must 
be  to  chasten,  to  refine,  to  purge  the  spirit  and  soul 
of  the  child.  If  its  effect  is  to  leave  him  defiant, 
bitter,  revengeful,  and  filled  with  hatred,  it  has 
failed. 

Discipline,  like  instruction,  a  difficult  process.  — 
Lastly,  always  remember,  slightly  adapting  the 
words  of  a  great  thinker,  that  to  educate  rightly  is 
not  a  simple  and  easy  thing,  but  a  complex  and 
difficult  thing,  the  hardest  task  which  devolves 
upon  a  parent  or  a  teacher.  The  rough-and-ready 
style  of  management  of  children  is  practicable  by 
the  meanest  and  most  uncultivated  of  intellects. 
"  Slaps  and  sharp  words  are  penalties  that  suggest 
themselves  alike  to  the  least  reclaimed  barbarian 
and  the  most  stolid  peasant.  Even  brutes  can  use 
this  method  of  discipline,  as  you  may  see  in  the 
growl  or  half-bite  with  which  a  bitch  will  check  a 
too-exigeant  puppy.  But  if  you  would  carry  out 
with  success  a  rational  and  civilized  system,  you 
must  be  prepared  for  considerable  mental  exertion 
—  for  some  study,  some  ingenuity,  some  patience, 
some  self-control.  You  will  have  habitually  to  trace 
the  consequences  of  conduct  —  to  consider  what 
are  the  results  which  in  adult  life  follow  certain 
kinds  of  acts ;  and  then  ...  to  devise  methods  by 
which  parallel  results  shall  be  entailed  on  the  parallel 
acts  of  your  children.  You  will  daily  be  called 
upon  to  analyze  the  motives  of  juvenile  conduct; 
you  must  distinguish  between  acts  that  are  really 
good  and  those  which,  though  externally  simulating 


70     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

them,  proceed  from  inferior  impulses ;  while  you 
must  be  ever  on  your  guard  against  the  cruel  mis- 
take not  unfrequently  made,  of  translating  neutral 
acts  into  transgressions,  or  ascribing  worse  feelings 
than  were  entertained.  You  must  more  or  less 
modify  your  method  to  suit  the  disposition  of  each 
child;  and  must  be  prepared  to  make  further 
modifications  as  each  child's  disposition  enters  on 
a  new  phase.  Your  faith  will  often  be  taxed  to 
maintain  the  requisite  perseverance  in  a  course 
which  seems  to  produce  little  or  no  effect.  Espe- 
cially if  you  are  dealing  with  children  who  have  been 
wrongly  treated,  you  must  be  prepared  for  a 
lengthened  trial  of  patience  before  succeeding  with 
better  methods ;  seeing  that  that  which  is  not  easy 
even  where  a  right  state  of  feeling  has  been  estab- 
lished from  the  beginning  becomes  doubly  difficult 
when  a  wrong  state  of  feeling  has  to  be  set  right/' 

Suggestions  from  biology.  -  -  The  conscientious 
teacher  who  is  really  sensitive  to  the  moral  delin- 
quencies of  children  may  find  some  comfort  in  the 
suggestion  that  we  need  not  expect  from  young 
children  any  great  amount  of  moral  goodness. 
While  a  young  mother  may  take  exception  to  the 
charge  that  her  child  is  a  young  savage,  within 
certain  limits  the  charge  may  truthfully  be  made 
of  all  children.  The  so-called  "  culture-epoch  " 
theory  is  that  every  child  must  pass  through  the 
stages  through  which  mankind  has  passed  in  its 
development  from  savagery  and  barbarism  to  com- 
plete civilization.  The  biologist  refers  to  it  as  the 
biogenic  law,  with  special  reference  to  the  individual's 
recapitulation  of  the  growth  stages  of  the  race  on 


THROUGH  SCHOOL   DISCIPLINE  71 

its  physical  side.  That  "  ontogeny  recapitulates 
phylogeny  "  is  his  very  technical  statement  of  the 
same  law.  Biologically  this  may  be  seen  in  the 
evolution  of  embryonic  life.  Its  historic  counter- 
part is  likely  to  be  illustrated  again  and  again  in 
most  nurseries  and  on  more  playgrounds. 

Such  studies  as  Hall  and  the  whole  school  of 
investigators  inspired  by  him  have  made,  have 
given  us  a  mass  of  evidence  concerning  the  cruelty, 
the  lying,  and  other  faults  of  children.  In  the  light 
of  this  evidence  we  are  less  surprised  and  less  dis- 
tressed by  the  outcropping  of  these  primal  faults 
than  we  should  otherwise  be.  A  boy  of  fourteen 
with  a  reputation  for  veracity,  and  a  joy  to  his 
home  because  of  his  truthfulness,  now  laughs  at 
the  tale  of  the  lies  he  told  as  a  young  child.  But 
he  was  a  great  trial  to  his  parents  for  a  few  years, 
for  in  spite  of  their  desire  to  deal  wisely  with  him 
they  could  not  see  for  a  time  how  a  child  with  such 
a  grievous  fault  could  ever  fulfill  their  hopes  and 
expectations  concerning  him.  Now  the  same  parents  f 
know  well  enough  that  it  is  not  a  shocking  thing 
for  a  young  child  to  lie,  though  it  would  be  shock- 
ing, indeed,  for  a  child's  moral  development  to  be 
arrested  in  the  lying  stage. 

Hall l  shows  us  that  many  cases  of  apparent 
cruelty  are  really  only  evidences  of  experimental 
curiosity  "  due  to  ignorance  and  to  an  impulse 
which,  when  properly  directed,  is  the  prototype 
of  scientific  investigation."  A  boy  of  8  or  9  is  re- 
ported as  shutting  a  squirrel  in  a  dog's  kennel  "  to 
see  how  long  it  could  live  without  food."  He  was 

1  Aspects  of  Child  Life  and  Education,  pp.  103-104. 


72    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"  much  interested  in  Tanner's  fast  of  forty  days, 
which  was  the  incentive."  Another  boy,  8-12, 
"  broke  chickens'  legs  several  times,  but  always 
set  them.  Became  a  surgeon."  Examples  of  this 
sort  may  be  multiplied,  all  tending  to  confirm  the 
theory,  that  what  may  at  times  to  the  superficial 
observer  appear  to  be  nothing  more  than  an  ex- 
hibition of  wanton  cruelty,  may  in  reality  be  at- 
tributable to  such  a  legitimate  instinct  as  curiosity 
which  we  wish  to  keep  alive  and  active  as  long  as 
possible. 

The  teacher  dare  not  complacently  close  her  eyes 
to  the  inattention,  the  lying,  the  cruelty,  or  any 
other  shortcoming  of  the  child  at  any  stage,  but  her 
peace  of  mind  will  likely  be  greater,  her  faith  a  more 
optimistic  one,  and  her  treatment  of  the  child  a 
more  rational  one,  if  she  remember  that  in  every 
child  there  are  deep-seated  racial  instincts  and 
impulses  cropping  out  from  time  to  time ;  that  adult 
standards  of  morality  are  the  results  of  a  long  period 
of  evolution,  and  that  in  the  child  "  a  higher  moral- 
ity, like  a  higher  intelligence,  must  be  reached  by  a 
slow  growth."  The  consummation  of  the  Almighty's 
work  in  the  creation  and  evolution  of  life  is  a  man 
able  to  think,  to  feel,  to  choose,  and  to  act  in  the 
light  of  his  choices.  To  assist  the  child  to  become 
a  man  in  this  sense;  to  help  him  throw  off  racial 
and  hereditary  yokes  as  the  hour  comes  for  such 
deliverance;  to  keep  his  own  will  active,  and  yet 
to  develop  it  in  those  lines  of  moral  freedom  which 
substitute  conscience  and  social  consciousness  for 
the  selfish  instincts  and  impulses  constituting  his 
big  inheritance  —  is  one  of  the  privileges  of  the 


THROUGH  SCHOOL   DISCIPLINE  73 

teacher  every  time  she  is  confronted  with  a  new 
problem  of  discipline. 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Show  that  in  schoolroom  discipline  it  is  easier  than 
in   instruction  for   the   teacher   to   meet   the   individual 
needs  of  her  pupils. 

2.  Teachers    often   think   that   good    conduct,    proper 
deportment,  obedience  to  rules,  etc.,   are  all  necessary 
means  to   a   more   important   end,   instruction.     Justify 
this  view.     May  they  as  truly  be  regarded  as  ends  in 
themselves  ?     Show. 

3.  Think  of  the  teachers  you  have  had  or  observed 
who   were   good   disciplinarians,    and    account   for  their 
success. 

4.  State  the  three  principles  to  observe  in  punishing 
children.     Which  one  is  most  likely  to  be  violated  by 
parents  ?   by  teachers  ?     Give  reasons  for  your  answers. 

5.  Is  punishment  as  you  have  seen  it  inflicted  in  school 
and  home  reformative  in  its  influence,  or  not  ?     When  a 
child  is  excluded  from  school  for  a  serious  offense,  does 
the  teacher  have  in  mind  thereby  to  reform  him  ?     What 
other  object  may  she  have  ? 

6.  In  some  library,  look  up  magazine  articles  telling 
of  the  remarkable  prison  reforms  of  Thomas  Mott  Os- 
borne  and  report  the  same. 

7.  What  may  teachers  learn  from  Judge  Ben  Lindsey 
and  his  juvenile  court  procedure,  that  will   be   of  value 
in  dealing  with  boys  in  the  schoolroom  ? 

8.  Is  lying  a  fault  as  serious  in  a  child  of  six  years  as 
in  one  of  twelve  ?     Why  do  you  think  so  ? 

9.  In   some   schoolrooms   pupils   never  whisper.     Tell 
what  you  think  of  such  a  situation. 

10.  Teachers    usually    send    to    the    parents    of  their 


74     MORAL  EDUCATION   IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

pupils  periodic  reports  of  their  grade  in  deportment. 
Of  what  advantage  is  this  custom  ?  Would  a  similar 
report  from  parent  to  teacher  be  of  any  use  to  anybody  ? 
In  what  way  ? 

n.    Show  how  a  sense  of  humor  in  the  teacher  may  be 
a  factor  in  the  rational  discipline  of  a  school. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BAGLEY,  WILLIAM  C. :  Class  Room  Management.  Macmillan  Co. 

GILBERT,  CHARLES  B. :  The  School  and  Its  Life :  The  Morale 
of  the  School,  chapter  m.  Silver,  Burdett  &  Co. 

KING,  IRVING  :  Education  for  Social  Efficiency,  chapter  x. 
D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

ROWE,  STUART  H. :  Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teach- 
ing, chapter  xn.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

SPENCER,  HERBERT:  Education:  Essay  on  Moral  Education. 
Hurst  &  Co. 

TOMPKINS,  ARNOLD:  School  Management,  pp.  157  ff.  Ginn  & 
Co. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MORAL   EDUCATION   THROUGH   READING   AND 
LITERATURE 

The  heritage  of  good  books.  -  -  The  children  of 
today  are  fortunate  indeed  in  the  wealth  of  good 
wholesome  reading  matter  open  to  them.  There  is 
hardly  a  basal  text  that  is  not  filled  from  cover  to 
cover  with  veritable  literary  treasures ;  and  the 
best  schools  everywhere  make  it  possible,  if  not 
mandatory,  for  a  child  to  read  from  half  a  dozen  to 
a  dozen  or  more  good  supplementary  readers  each 
year  he  spends  in  the  public  schools.  So  much  is 
done  by  the  textbook  writers,  and  by  the  school 
authorities  who  provide  books  for  daily  use,  that 
the  teacher's  task  in  the  matter  of  reading  is  reduced 
to  a  minimum.  And  yet  hers  is  the  duty  of  seeing 
to  it  that  children  enter  this  "  open  sesame,"  and 
that  they  learn  to  enjoy  and  to  profit  by  this  treasure 
house. 

Influence  of  the  teacher's  reading. -- Perhaps 
the  best  guarantee  that  they  will  enjoy  it  is  for  the 
teacher  herself  to  be  a  lover  of  good  books ;  to  be  a 
good  reader  and  story-teller;  and  to  be  eager  to 
share  with  her  pupils  the  good  things  which  she  has 
found  in  the  readers  or  other  books.  In  certain 
schools,  one  may  see  a  roomful  of  children,  many  of 

75 


76     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

them  from  homes  in  which  good  books  are  almost, 
if  not  wholly,  unknown,  sit  as  if  under  a  spell,  hang- 
ing upon  every  word  of  the  teacher,  while  she  reads 
with  sympathetic  appreciation  and  naturalness  of 
expression  some  simple  but  powerful  story  suited 
to  their  degree  of  maturity  and  satisfying  to  their 
eager  imaginations.  The  attention  of  pupils  to  a 
selection  wisely  chosen  and  well  read  by  the  teacher 
is  so  marked,  and  the  results  are  so  gratifying,  that 
one  wonders  why  teachers  generally  do  not  do  more 
oral  reading  than  is  their  custom  above  the  first 
two  grades.  Perhaps  one  answer  is  that  many 
teachers  are  not  good  readers  and  know  it ;  but  the 
cultivation  of  few  other  talents  could  give  such  large 
returns  in  the  schoolroom  as  this  one.  Another 
answer  may  be  that  teachers  fear  they  will  do  vio- 
lence to  a  pedagogical  principle  in  reading,  even  well, 
that  which  might  be  read,  though  poorly,  by  members 
of  the  class.  The  obvious  reply  to  this  objection  is 
that  in  the  intermediate  and  upper  grades  of  the 
elementary  school  many  lessons  in  reading  should 
have  as  their  leading  aim,  not  so  much  the  develop- 
ment of  power  through  painful  struggling  attempts 
to  read  the  lesson  of  the  hour  —  power  to  read  better 
some  remote  lesson  of  the  future,  as  an  appreciation 
of  the  truth  and  beauty  of  the  selection  assigned.  If 
such  appreciation  is  the  major  purpose  of  the  lesson, 
and  if  the  teacher's  reading  enables  the  class  to  real- 
ize this  aim  more  promptly  and  more  effectively, 
then  let  us  have  more  reading  of  such  lessons  to  the 
class  by  the  teacher.  Of  course  there  are  lessons 
whose  object  is  not  primarily  appreciation  and 
emotional  response  by  the  pupils.  In  such  cases  a 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       77 

more  analytic  treatment  is  necessary,  and  the  re- 
quirements of  good  teaching  are  met  when  the 
children  are  led  through  question  and  answer,  dis- 
section, and  labored  piecemeal  reading  to  reach  the 
goal  set  up  by  the  teacher,  for  the  goal  may  be  not 
so  much  truth  and  beauty  as  it  is  a  development  of 
ability  to  discover  even  a  portion  of  the  truth  and 
the  beauty  found  in  the  particular  lesson  studied. 

Danger  of  too  much  analysis.  —  But  it  cannot  be 
too  strongly  stressed  that  many  literary  selections 
in  school  readers  embody  such  truth  or  have  so  much 
of  beauty  that  it  is  little  less  than  sacrilegious  to  use 
them  as  mere  punching  bags  with  which  to  develop 
the  mental  muscle  of  pupils,  when  the  meaning  might 
be  better  communicated  by  methods  more  direct. 
Even  worse  than  this  failure  at  times  to  lead  a 
child  to  see  or  feel  as  the  author  would  have  his 
reader  do,  is  the  fact  that  children  sometimes  ac- 
quire a  positive  dislike  for  the  type  of  literature 
which  ought  to  mean  most  to  them,  and  they  do  it 
because  their  taste  is  not  developed  by  contact  with 
enough  selections ;  because  their  approach  is  too 
often  the  cold,  analytical  approach  when  they  need 
a  sympathetic  and  synthetic  introduction  to  the 
masterpiece  pulsating  with  life  and  interest  even 
though  some  details  are  obscure.  Surely  a  teacher's 
success  in  teaching  reading  can  not  be  judged  by  any 
standard  more  nearly  just  than  this  —  the  percent- 
age of  her  pupils  who  really  learn  to  love  such  sub- 
ject matter  as  that  taught  in  our  best  school  readers 
today. 

Three  types  of  reading  material  —  first,  sensa- 
tional fiction.  —  Considered  from  the  standpoint  of 


78     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

moral  education,  there  are  three  types  of  reading 
matter.  First,  there  is  the  sensational,  lurid,  im- 
moral type  of  fiction  —  the  cheap  detective  story  and 
the  "  yellow-back "  novel.  The  relation  of  this 
sort  of  stuff  to  immoral  conduct  on  the  part  of 
boys  has  been  demonstrated  too  many  times  to 
need  argument  or  exposition  here.  Theft,  highway 
robbery,  brutality,  even  murder  have  been  inspired 
in  thousands  of  instances  by  the  false  light  with 
which  these  crimes  have  been  invested  in  a  type  of 
reading  often  devoured  clandestinely  by  boys. 

Teachers  and  parents  need  to  be  alert  to  discover 
any  incipient  taste  for  books  that  debase  and  de- 
bauch. Of  course  the  antidote  for  it  is  an  early  in- 
troduction of  the  child  to  wholesome  reading  matter. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  "  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  bet- 
ter than  a  pound  of  cure."  But  wholly  apart  from 
the  need  of  surrounding  children  in  home  and  school 
with  reading  matter  that  is  elevating,  there  is  the 
additional  need  of  recognizing  the  fact  that  forces 
of  evil  in  society  are  very  active ;  and  that  in  spite 
of  postal  laws  which  prohibit  the  use  of  the  United 
States  mails  for  sending  anything  vulgar  and  obscene 
in  its  nature,  degraded  men  and  women  are  constantly 
trying  to  corrupt  the  youth  of  their  generation  by 
the  circulation  of  just  such  poison.  The  appeal  is 
usually  made  to  the  curiosity  of  boys  and  girls 
concerning  matters  tabooed  in  the  conversation  of 
good  books  and  homes.  Prurient  tastes  are  culti- 
vated, and  salacious  printed  stories  and  books  are 
circulated,  about  which  parents  are  in  blissful  ig- 
norance, and  at  which  they  would  be  shocked  could 
they  think  their  children  exposed  to  such  miasma. 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       79 

Somewhat  more  respectable  but  little  less  dan- 
gerous than  the  type  of  reading  matter  just  men- 
tioned and  surreptitiously  read  by  thousands  of 
children  of  unsuspecting  parents,  are  many  of  our 
modern  novels  which  revolve  about  the  question  of 
sex  "  flagrantly  and  repulsively  portrayed/'  as  one 
writer  1  has  recently  pointed  out.  The  boy  or  girl 
of  high-school  age  is  more  likely  to  gratify  a  morbid 
taste  for  these  novels,  but  the  upper  grammar 
grades  have  many  readers  of  the  same  sort  of  books. 
The  early  adolescent  is  entitled  to  literature  that 
satisfies  this  perfectly  natural  longing  for  the  por- 
trayal and  history  of  the  emotional  life  of  men 
and  women,  their  loves  and  hates  and  reconcilia- 
tions ;  but  it  makes  a  great  difference  whether 
the  girl  finds  her  satisfaction  in  the  Barriers 
Burned  Away  and  Her  Broken  Vow  sort,  or  in 
those  of  the  type  of  Lorna  Doone,  Princess  Aline, 
Mill  on  The  Floss,  Ramona,  The  Virginian,  and 
scores  of  others  just  as  interesting  and  innocent  in 
their  effects. 

The  Jesse  James  and  Diamond  Dick  type  of 
story  with  which  so  many  boys  regale  themselves 
is  not  read  because  boys  are  depraved  in  their  tastes. 
These  stories  are  full  of  action  and  excitement  for 
which  boys  have  an  innate  fondness.  It  is  possible 
to  give  them  reading  matter  abounding  in  stories 
of  heroes,  action,  movement,  thrilling  exploits,  tense 
situations,  excitement  even,  and  yet  devoid  of  "  blood 
and  thunder,"  the  melodramatic,  the  lurid,  and  all 
that  tends  towards  depravity  and  crime.  They 
need  not  read  "  sissy "  books.  Indeed,  normal 

1Manthei  Howe,  in  the  Continent,  Nov.  30,  1916, 


8o     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

red-blooded  boys  will  not.  But  Kipling's  Captains 
Courageous,  Stevenson's  Treasure  Island,  Cooper's 
Red  Rover  and  Pilot,  Jules  Verne's  Around  The 
World  in  Eighty  Days,  Defoe's  Robinson  Crusoe, 
and  scores  of  others  of  like  nature  abound  in  the 
qualities  which  boys  love,  and  yet  lack  the  dangerous 
qualities  listed  above.  It  is  only  necessary  to  in- 
troduce this  type  of  fiction  to  prevent  the  mental 
and  moral  debauch  occasioned  by  the  other,  and 
to  foster  in  the  young  reader  a  growing  taste  for  the 
worthwhile  in  books. 

Wholesome  literature  a  second  type.  —  A  second 
type  of  reading  is  that  great  body  of  literature  which 
includes  the  bulk  of  what  is  written,  let  us  hope, 
wholly  safe  and  sane,  never  immoral,  never  degrad- 
ing, but  refined,  elevated,  dignified,  in  model  Eng- 
lish, satisfying  varied  tastes,  but  not  written  to  teach 
a  moral  lesson  and  often  having  none  to  teach.  Our 
school  readers  have  a  plentiful  supply  of  this  sort  of 
reading  matter,  and  our  libraries  abound  in  it.  The 
child  who  acquires  a  reading  habit  is  likely  to  find 
his  greatest  satisfaction  in  just  this  field.  Poetry 
and  prose,  description  and  narration,  short  story 
and  essay  —  these  are  forms  it  takes,  and  it  occupies 
our  leisure  hours  with  pleasing  entertainment  and 
innocent  diversion  suited  to  the  needs  and  tastes  of 
the  reader,  whoever  he  may  be.  Sometimes  moral 
lessons  can  be  derived  from  it,  but  they  need  not  be 
to  justify  its  reading,  any  more  than  one  needs  to 
find  a  moral  lesson  in  a  painting  that  is  well  executed 
or  a  musical  number  well  rendered,  to  justify  the 
pleasure  got  from  it. 

Not  a  little  futile  teaching  has  been  done  in  at- 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       8l 

tempting  to  lead  pupils  to  find  some  "  lesson  "  in 
poems  that  were  never  written  with  a  distinct  moral 
purpose.  If  they  are  real  literature,  if  they  are 
beautiful  in  language  and  imagery,  there  may  be 
excuse  enough  in  these  facts  for  reading  them. 
"  Beauty  is  its  own  excuse  for  being."  Truth, 
beauty,  and  goodness  are  three  abstractions  with 
which  we  justly  concern  ourselves,  because  the 
true,  the  beautiful,  and  the  good  are  three  aspects 
of  life  or  three  qualities  of  it  that  need  development 
in  us  to  give  us  proper  balance.  It  is  too  much  to 
expect  them  all  three  to  be  equally  well  exhibited 
in  every  work  of  art  or  every  life  that  stimulates 
us  to  react  upon  them.  The  teacher  who  keeps  this 
thought  in  mind  will  be  a  better  guide  of  children  as 
she  leads  them  through  the  maze  of  books  and 
stories  comprising  our  literary  heritage,  for  she  will 
understand  that  she  dares  to  teach  much  that  has 
no  moral  in  it,  provided  it  be  true  or  beautiful  and 
have  no  deleterious  effect  upon  its  reader.  Much 
that  is  beautiful  in  nature,  even  in  our  own  surround- 
ings, escapes  our  attention  and  would  never  give  us 
the  joy  it  has  in  store  for  us,  were  its  charm  not  dis- 
covered by  some  painter  or  some  poet  and  then  held 
up  before  our  surprised  eyes  to  give  pleasure  where 
we  little  dreamed  of  finding  it.  The  skillful  novelist, 
in  like  manner,  may  seize  upon  an  age,  an  epoch, 
a  neighborhood,  a  people,  and  find  in  it  the  material 
for  a  story  whose  reading  may  "  drive  dull  Care 
away,"  and  strip  life  of  its  sordidness  for  us  for  an 
hour,  if  it  result  in  nothing  more  and  nothing  better. 
There  are  times  when  we  all  need  just  such  a  retreat 
from  the  sterner  realities  and  competitive  struggles, 


82     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

to  get  rest  for  weary  frames  and  jaded  nerves.  The 
child  who  grows  up  without  a  taste  for  literature 
that  can  relax  him  at  times  without  in  any  way  de- 
basing, is  as  much  to  be  pitied  as  one  who  has  never 
learned  to  use  the  beneficent  tonic  of  play.  Reading 
of  this  sort  has  a  big  place  in  life,  and  the  child  who 
learns  to  use  it  for  such  ends  is  pretty  well  fortified 
against  a  good  many  dangers  to  his  moral  nature 
likely  to  be  encountered  as  he  seeks  necessary  re- 
laxation at  times  in  other  pursuits  that  bid  for  his 
leisure. 

Third  type  —  lessons  with  a  moral  or  ethical 
content.  —  A  third  type  of  reading  is  that  which 
has  a  message,  a  moral  lesson,  a  distinct  truth  so 
expressed  as  to  take  hold  upon  the  feelings  as  well 
as  the  intellect.  It  is  this  characteristic  of  a  literary 
selection  with  a  moral  content  that  gives  it  a  dy- 
namic force  which  is  less  likely  to  characterize  didactic 
teaching.  The  latter  is  addressed  to  the  intellect 
only;  the  former  to  the  emotions.  Action  is  more 
likely  to  be  governed  by  feeling  than  intelligence, 
or  to  state  it  in  other  words,  intellect  plus  emotion 
is  much  more  effective  in  shaping  conduct  than  in- 
tellect alone.  To  illustrate  this  point,  think  of  the 
effect  resulting  from  a  bare  dogmatic  assertion  to  a 
child  that  one  who  is  guilty  of  lying  frequently  will 
not  be  believed  even  when  he  does  tell  the  truth. 
Then  recall  the  effect  produced  by  your  reading  of 
the  fable  of  the  boy  who,  while  tending  sheep, 
shouted,  "  A  wolf!  a  wolf!  "  on  successive  days  just 
to  enjoy  the  running  of  the  men  who  were  deceived 
by  his  shouts,  and  your  later  impression,  when  the 
boy  called  in  vain  for  the  help  he  needed  but  did  not 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       83 

get  because  those  who  heard  his  cries  did  not  believe 
him.  There  is  a  propulsive  appeal  about  this  simple 
fable  which  takes  hold  of  young  children  and  vi- 
talizes and  energizes  the  truth  in  such  a  way  as  really 
to  shape  character.  Didactic  teaching  cannot  ac- 
complish the  same  result  with  children  to  whom  this 
fable  makes  its  big  appeal. 

That  one  gradually  becomes  like  his  ideal,  like  the 
thing  or  the  character  he  loves  and  keeps  before  him, 
is  a  truth  that  is  preached  and  taught  and  stated  in 
many  ways  by  older  men  and  women  to  the  younger 
generation.  But  those  of  us  who  first  studied  Haw- 
thorne's "  Ernest  and  the  Great  Stone  Face  "  at 
the  psychological  moment,  probably  got  an  impres- 
sion that  was  more  completely  transmuted  into 
character  and  conduct  than  any  other  teaching  of 
this  truth  to  which  we  were  exposed. 

Paul  states  for  adults  some  profound  truths  con- 
cerning charity,  its  relation  to  other  Christian 
virtues,  its  leading  characteristics,  and  its  accom- 
plishments ;  but  nothing  he  says  about  it  can  make 
the  vigorous  appeal,  and  stamp  the  character  of 
youth  to  the  same  degree,  that  Lowell's  "  Vision  of 
Sir  Launfal  "  may  do.  It  is  an  interesting  story,  this, 
from  the  day  Sir  Launfal  starts  out  in  the  pride  and 
haughtiness  of  youth  in  search  of  the  Holy  Grail, 
until  he  returns  an  old  man  to  find  the  object  of  his 
search  so  near  his  starting  point.  It  is  a  marvelous 
transformation  of  character  he  undergoes  from  the 
time  he  tosses  a  leper  a  piece  of  gold  in  scorn  to  the 
day  he  learns  that, 

"  Who  gives  himself  with  his  alms  feeds  three, 
Himself,  his  hungering  neighbor,  and  me." 


84     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Lowell  has  so  embodied  this  truth  in  a  poem  of 
such  action,  movement,  personal  characters,  appro- 
priate imagery,  felicitous  language,  that  it  gives 
sensuous  pleasure  and  preaches  a  powerful  sermon 
at  the  same  time,  and  preaches  it,  too,  without  caus- 
ing his  readers  to  feel  too  keenly  that  he  is  preaching. 

The  oft-repeated  story  of  "  Midas  and  the  Golden 
Touch  "  is  another  typical  lesson  in  reading  of  this 
third  type.  Few  other  stories  have  so  vividly 
taught  youth  of  countless  generations  the  truth  that 
gold,  even  in  boundless  store,  is  a  poor  substitute 
for  life  and  love  and  children,  all  common  possessions 
of  priceless  value,  but  too  often  undervalued  by 
men  and  women  bent  on  the  accumulation  of  gold 
or  other  material  wealth. 

Endless  examples  might  be  given,  selected  from 
almost  any  of  our  good  school  readers,  of  selections 
which,  if  well  taught,  cannot  fail  to  strengthen  the 
pupil  in  some  virtue.  Indeed  our  supremest  aim 
is,  and  should  be,  so  to  establish  him.  In  building 
his  character  there  are  few  better  ways  than  that 
of  systematically  placing  before  the  pupil  moral 
situations  embodied  in  story  and  dealing  with  the 
virtues  and  vices  peculiar  to  each  period  of  his  un- 
folding. When  these  are  presented  in  such  form 
and  such  language  as  to  grip  his  interest,  they  lead 
to  moral  reactions  which,  repeated  often  enough, 
develop  into  habits  of  will  and  forms  of  conduct 
morally  worthy.  Legends,  myths,  fairy  tales,  fables, 
parables,  allegories,  to  say  nothing  of  poetry,  short 
stories,  novels,  etc.,  are  so  rich  in  spiritual  meanings 
that  we  are  almost  overwhelmed  by  the  richness 
and  variety  of  material  open  to  us. 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       85 

Whether  we  wish  to  develop  our  classes  in  the 
virtues  of  kindness,  industry,  perseverance,  ac- 
curacy, patience,  love  of  truth,  obedience,  courage, 
loyalty,  patriotism,  economy,  ambition,  heroism, 
courtesy,  charity;  or  to  fortify  them  against  the 
vices  which  may  be  catalogued  as  the  opposites  of 
these  virtues,  it  is  possible  to  find  a  half  dozen  or 
more  selections  appropriate  to  the  teaching  of  any 
one  of  these.  It  would  indeed  be  a  profitable  exer- 
cise for  any  teacher  to  take  the  basic  readers  she 
uses,  and  as  many  supplementary  texts  as  she  may 
find  available,  and  run  through  them  hastily  to 
classify  the  lessons  upon  some  such  basis.  Suppose 
it  is  patriotism,  love  of  country,  love  for  the  flag, 
or  some  such  civic  virtue  that  it  is  desirable  to 
strengthen  through  literature.  Think  of  the  ma- 
terial available  for  the  purpose.  There  are  our 
so-called  national  anthem,  "  America,"  which  ought 
to  be  memorized  by  every  school  boy  and  girl  be- 
fore he  leaves  the  grades,  "  Star  Spangled  Banner," 
"  Paul  Revere's  Ride,"  "  Barbara  Frietchie,"  "  Ar- 
nold Winkelried,"  "Old  Ironsides,"  "Song  of 
Marion's  Men,"  "  The  Man  without  a  Country," 
"  The  Blue  and  the  Gray,"  Lincoln's  "  Gettysburg 
Address,"  "  The  Arsenal  at  Springfield,"  "  Concord 
Hymn,"  "The  Charge  of  the  Light  Brigade," 
Washington's  "  Farewell  Address,"  "  The  Battle  of 
Blenheim,"  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
still  others  that  will  easily  suggest  themselves  or  be 
discovered  by  the  teacher  who  is  on  the  alert  for 
selections  that  will  reenforce  a  lesson  she  is  trying 
to  teach.  No  effort  is  here  made  to  indicate  the 
grade  for  which  the  above  lessons  are  most  appro- 


86     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

priate,  but  in  whatever  grade  any  one  of  them 
is  taught,  it  will  be  found  helpful  to  review,  for 
purposes  of  comparison  and  reenforcement  of  the 
teaching,  such  selections  dealing  with  kindred  themes 
as  have  already  been  taught. 

Importance  of  discovering  what  children  volun- 
tarily read.  —  Teachers  are  usually  more  or  less  in 
the  dark  as  to  what  their  pupils  read  of  their  own 
volition.  Some  time  spent  each  year  with  each  new 
class  in  attempting  to  find  out  just  what  the  pupils 
have  read,  and  what  kind  of  literature  appeals  to 
them  most,  will  enable  the  teacher  to  render  far 
larger  service  in  this  field.  Some  children  will  be 
found  who  have  done  little  or  no  reading  save  the 
lessons  assigned  in  school.  Their  interests  have  been 
in  other  directions.  They  have  not  yet  discovered 
that  literature  is  so  broad  in  its  scope  that  something 
has  been  written  that  deals  with  their  particular 
interests.  In  such  cases  the  teacher's  problem  is 
not  first  of  all  to  introduce  these  pupils  to  literature 
that  is  distinctly  moral  and  ethical  in  its  nature; 
but  to  induce  them  to  read  something,  in  the  hope 
that  a  reading  habit  may  be  established  and  grad- 
ually be  directed  into  proper  lines.  Of  course,  the 
psychological  method  to  use  is  to  acquaint  the 
child  with  some  story  book  or  books  which  deal 
with  the  thing  he  is  interested  in,  wherever  this 
can  be  done. 

A  suggestive  approach  to  the  interest  of  the  child 
who  dislikes  books.  —  A  boy  much  interested  in 
horses,  e.g.,  might  find  Black  Beauty  or  Colliery 
Jim  or  Stevenson's  Travels  with  a  Donkey  his  gate- 
way into  wider  fields  of  reading.  Incidentally,  in 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       87 

the  first  two  of  these  books  he  would  .probably  find 
that  which  would  result  in  his  more  humane  treat- 
ment of  horses  and  even  mules,  as  long  as  he  lives. 
A  child  with  any  of  the  instincts  of  a  naturalist  or 
a  nature-lover  would  find  in  the  writings  of  Long  and 
Payne  and  Seton-Thompson  and  Roosevelt  that 
which  would  ultimately  take  him  into  other  pleasant 
and  profitable  paths  through  books.  Perhaps  a 
boy  is  fond  of  dogs  but  not  of  books.  If  so,  he  could 
not  make  a  better  beginning  than  by  reading  the 
following  books  whose  central  figures  would  com- 
mand his  interest  and  respect  from  the  outset : 
Scally,  by  Ian  Hay,  Muir's  Stickeen,  London's  The 
Call  of  the  Wild,  Ollivant's  Bob,  Son  of  Battle,  and 
Ouida's  A  Dog  of  Flanders. 

We  repeat  that  the  foregoing  books  are  not  so 
valuable  as  literature,  and  certainly  do  not  all 
represent  the  highest  and  best  in  literature;  but 
they  are  all  wholesome,  interesting,  and  at  least  worth 
while  in  themselves.  If  in  addition  they  may  be 
made  the  introduction  to  a  still  better  and  richer 
field  for  boys  who  have  hitherto  not  found  in  books 
anything  satisfying,  then  their  reading  will  surely 
be  a  praiseworthy  accomplishment. 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Discuss  the  influence  upon   pupils  of  a  teacher's 
love  for  good  literature. 

2.  What  can   be  said   for   and   against  the  teacher's 
practice  of  reading  much  to  her  pupils  ? 

3.  Distinguish  between  development  of  power  to  in- 
terpret and  express  thought,  and  appreciation  of  truth 


88     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

and  beauty,  as  aims  in  reading.     Are  they  in  any  measure 
mutually  interdependent  ? 

4.  Explain,    and    if    possible    illustrate,    your    under- 
standing of  the  difference  between  the  analytical  approach 
and  the  synthetic  approach  to  a  reading  lesson. 

5.  Have  you  ever  discovered  children  reading  anything 
positively  dangerous  to  their  morals  ?     Have  you   ever 
had  a  railway  news  agent  attempt  to  sell  you  reading 
matter  that  was  immoral  ?     In  what  other  ways  is  such 
literature  disseminated  ? 

6.  Enumerate  the  characteristics  literature  must  have 
to  appeal  to  the  average  boy. 

7.  Is  the  aim  to  give  pleasure  a  worthy  moral  aim  in 
literature  ? 

8.  Show  the  moral  value  of  Macaulay's  "Horatius  at 
the   Bridge";     Bryant's   "Thanatopsis" ;    Wordsworth's 
"Daffodils";    Southey's  "The  Inchcape  Rock";    Long- 
fellow's   "The   Village    Blacksmith";     Emerson's   "For- 
bearance";     Field's    "Wynken,    Blynken,    and    Nod." 
Which   of  these   selections   must   be   chosen   upon  other 
grounds  than  its  moral  value  ? 

9.  From  the  readers  in  use  in  your  school  name  a  half 
dozen  selections  which   seem  to  you  neither  moral  nor 
immoral  in  their  effects  upon   a  class.     Show  how  the 
teaching   of  such    an   unmoral   selection   may   be   either 
detrimental  or  helpful  to  the  character  of  a  child. 

10.  Topic  for  debate :   The  moral  worth  of  a  selection 
sho'uld  have  greater  weight  than  its  literary  excellence 
in  determining  its  place  in  a  textbook  in  reading. 

11.  Read    "We    are    Seven."      What   is   its    "ethical 
core  "  ?     Should  you  try  to  teach  this  "  lesson  "  explicitly 
or  implicitly  ?     Explain. 

12.  Teach    Kipling's    "Recessional"    to   the    institute 
as  to  a  grammar  grade  class.     Show  what  moral  and  even 
religious  effects  may  be  secured  through  the  teaching  of 
this  selection.     What  makes  it  timely  now  ? 


THROUGH  READING  AND  LITERATURE       89 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BATES,  ARLO  :  Talks  on  Literature :  Why  We  Study  Literature. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

BRYANT,  SARA  CONE  :  How  to  Tell  Stories  to  Children.     Hough- 
ton  Mifflin  Co. 
ENGLEMAN,  J.  O. :  Outside  Reading.     English  Journal,  January, 

1917. 
HALIBURTON    and    SMITH:    Teaching    Poetry   in   the   Grades. 

Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
HILLIS,  NEWELL  DWIGHT:    Great  Books  and  Life  Teachers. 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 
McLELLAN,  J.  A.:    The   Ethical   Element   in   Literature,  and 

How  to  Make  the  Most  of  It  in  Teaching,  in  Proceedings 

N.  E.  A.  1894,  pp.  71-84. 
McMuRRY,  CHARLES  A. :    Special  Method  in  Reading  for  the 

Grades  :  Educational  Value  of  Literature.     Macmillan  Co. 
SHUMAN,  EDWIN  L. :  How  to  Judge  a  Book :  especially  chapter  ix, 

Morality  in  Art.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
TOMPKINS,  ARNOLD  :  Literary  Interpretations :  The  Nature  of 

Literature.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MORALITY  THROUGH   HISTORY 

Opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  moral  judg- 
ment. —  If  Tennyson  was  right  when  he  said, 

"  Yet  I  doubt  not  thro'  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widen'd  with  the  process 
of  the  suns," 

the  student  of  history  has  the  high  privilege  of  thus 
discovering  this  "  one  increasing  purpose,"  and  of 
widening  his  thought  at  the  same  time.  He  cer- 
tainly cannot  study  history  in  the  better  schools  of 
today  without  the  necessity  of  exercising  his  moral 
judgment  at  frequent  intervals.  For  history  is  no 
longer  presented  as  a  bare  chronology  of  events,  nor 
even  as  a  mere  record  of  military  achievements,  vic- 
tories, and  defeats  upon  the  field  of  battle  in  suc- 
cessive wars.  It  is  rather  an  attempt  to  explain  the 
present  in  the  light  of  the  past ;  to  see  the  genesis 
of  civilizations  and  their  later  developments,  for  the 
bearing  they  may  have  upon  subsequent  events ;  to 
understand  the  genius  of  nations  and  epochs,  for 
the  lessons  they  may  teach  the  generation  now 
living.  It  must  concern  itself  with  cause  and  ef- 
fect, as  well  as  fact  and  time  and  place.  It  teaches, 
as  few  subjects  can  teach,  the  mutual  dependence 

90 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY  91 

of  nations,  and  paves  the  way  for  an  appreciation 
of  what  we  have  learned  to  call  the  great  "  brother- 
hood of  man."  It  discloses  the  fact  that  the  great 
stream  of  modern  civilization  has  been  fed  and 
swollen  by  smaller  streams  coming  from  sources, 
many  of  them  remote  in  time  and  place,  and  yet 
bearing  in  their  currents  elements  distinctive  and 
unique  to  mingle  with  still  other  elements  required 
to  make  a  stream  of  the  color  and  characteristics 
that  are  known  today. 

Moral  relationships  writ  large  in  the  pages  of 
history.  —  Morality  is  a  matter  of  human  relation- 
ships. In  the  narrower  sense,  it  involves  the  re- 
lations of  a  man  to  his  fellows,  but  in  history  these 
relationships  are  "  writ  large  "  and  concern  the 
relation  of  individuals  to  nations  and  the  still  wider 
relations  of  nations  to  each  other.  On  the  one  side, 
the  record  of  every  individual  man  and  woman  whose 
achievements  have  been  significant  enough  to  be- 
come a  matter  of  consequence  to  posterity  is  such  as 
to  offer  much  that  is  worthy  of  emulation;  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  may  serve  equally  well  as  a  warn- 
ing and  a  deterrent  in  present-day  life.  The  his- 
tory of  nations,  viewed  in  the  large,  presents  exactly 
the  same  sort  of  contrasts,  and  makes  apparent  the 
rewards  of  virtue  and  the  penalties  of  vice.  '  The 
soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  surely  die,"  was  written  of 
old  and  has  been  exemplified  throughout  the  ages; 
but  that  "  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  "  is  just  as  true 
of  nations  as  of  men,  and  universal  history  illus- 
trates the  truth  even  more  clearly.  It  is  this  fact 
which  makes  its  study  one  of  such  moral  worth  even 
to  the  elementary  student.  It  is  not  alone  in  the 


92    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

history  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  as  narrated  in  the 
Old  Testament,  but  in  the  secular  narratives  of  the 
fall  of  the  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  monarchies, 
and  the  later  rise  and  fall  of  even  Greece  and  Rome, 
that  this  lesson  may  be  impressed. 

Illustrations.  —  In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  Goldsmith,  writing  of  his 

"Sweet  Auburn,  loveliest  village  of  the  plain," 

and  explaining  why  its  charms  were  fled,  generalized 
the  truth  in  the  following  well-known  lines : 

"111  fares  the  land,  to  hastening  ills  a  prey, 
Where  wealth  accumulates,  and  men  decay; 
Princes  and  lords  may  flourish,  or  may  fade; 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made; 
But  a  bold  peasantry,  their  country's  pride, 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  be  supplied."  1 

The  student  of  history  is  more  than  once  reminded 
of  the  poet's  words,  for  there  are  few  truths  which 
stand  out  more  clearly  than  this :  that  a  nation 
cannot  have  strength  to  endure  long  when  its  in- 
dividual units,  the  common  citizens,  are  lacking  in 
moral  fiber.  Up  to  a  certain  limit  the  accumulation 
of  wealth  may  be  a  wholesome  thing  for  a  man  or 
a  nation,  making  possible  a  certain  degree  of  leisure 
for  the  enjoyment  of  things  of  cultural  and  spiritual 
value.  But  beyond  this  it  becomes  an  obsession, 
saps  manhood  of  its  virility,  undermines  character, 
robs  industry  of  its  just  due,  and  tends  towards  the 
enjoyment  of  voluptuous  ease  and  the  satisfaction 
often  of  low  and  base  desires.  The  history  of 

1 "  The  Deserted  Village." 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY  93 

Greece  subsequent  to  the  conquests  of  Alexander  is 
an  illustration  in  point ;  and  the  economic  and  moral 
decline  of  Rome  beginning  even  before  the  end  of 
the  Second  Punic  War  is  a  better  one.  One  his- 
torian 1  says :  "  Even  a  glorious  war  tends  to  de- 
moralize society.  It  corrupts  morals,  and  creates 
extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty.  Extreme  poverty 
lowers  the  moral  tone  further.  So  does  quick-won 
and  illegitimate  wealth.  Then  the  moral  decay  of 
the  citizens  shows  in  the  state  as  a  political  disease. 
The  Second  Punic  War  teaches  this  lesson  to  the 
full.  ...  In  the  ruin  of  the  small  farmer,  Hannibal 
had  dealt  his  enemy  a  deadlier  blow  than  he  ever 
knew." 

Another  popular  text,2  treating  the  same  period 
and  commenting  upon  the  commencement  of  eco- 
nomic decay  in  Rome,  says : 

"Wealth  acquired  by  industry  works  only  good ;  but 
wealth  acquired  by  plunder,  fraud,  and  the  spirit  of 
gaming,  always  corrupts :  of  this  truth  Roman  history, 
from  this  time  on,  is  a  conspicuous  witness.  The  Romans 
had  now  tasted  the  sweets  of  ill-gotten  riches,  and  the 
plunder  of  foreign  lands  became  more  and  more  their 
governing  motive.  By  fair  means  and  by  foul,  great 
estates  were  build  up  at  the  expense  of  the  free  peasantry ; 
slave  labor,  that  form  of  labor  which  is  the  most  im- 
mediately profitable,  crowded  out  free  labor;  the  culti- 
vation of  the  soil  itself  was  neglected,  and  what  had  been 
well-tilled  fields  became  desert  or  swamp  or  expanse  of 
pasture  land.  From  this  point  of  time  commences  the 
decay  of  the  Italian  peasantry,  and  along  with  it  of 
Italian  agriculture." 


1West,  Ancient  World,  pp.  3.51-352. 
2  Myers  and  Allen,  Ancient  History,  p. 


94    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Moral  involved  in  American  history.  —  But  while 
the  successful  teacher  of  American  history  will  find 
much  material  for  moral  instruction  in  the  stories 
of  the  rise  and  fall  of  older  civilizations,  some  of 
which  will  very  properly  be  presented  as  a  back- 
ground for  the  history  of  the  United  States,  it  is  in 
the  history  of  our  own  country  that  she  must  find 
her  chief  ethical  situations  and  lead  her  class  to 
sense  them  as  such.  She  will  not  need  to  moralize 
about  them,  but  she  does  need  to  be  aware  of  the 
moral  and  religious  elements  involved,  that  she  may 
present  them  with  deserved  attention  to  their 
ethical  bearings.  Indeed,  she  ought  to  lead  her 
pupils  to  see  that  this  country  had  its  very  beginnings 
in  the  religious  devotion  of  a  few  groups  of  men  and 
women  who  left  the  mother  country,  braved  the 
dangers  of  the  sea,  the  wilderness,  the  Indian;  of 
famine,  and  rigorous  winters;  of  sickness  and 
death ;  of  every  conceivable  sort  of  hardship  inci- 
dent to  a  pioneer  life,  that  they  might  establish  in 
their  political  life  the  principles  which  were  so  dear 
to  them.  The  Pilgrim  fathers  in  New  England,  the 
Catholics  in  Maryland,  the  Jesuits  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  all  alike  in  kind,  if  unlike  in  degree,  suc- 
ceeded in  laying  foundations  of  government  broad 
and  deep  because  they  had  so  much  at  stake  in 
their  building.  The  superstructure  erected  has 
been  so  enduring  because  the  foundations  laid 
rested  upon  principles  of  such  magnitude. 

The  history  of  the  United  States  from  its  very 
beginnings  is  an  exhibition  of  the  moral  qualities  of 
courage,  perseverance,  industry,  frugality,  justice, 
and  self-reliance.  With  these  have  been  displayed 


MORALITY  THROUGH   HISTORY  95 

a  rare  belief  in  the  benefits  of  education  and  a  re- 
ligious fervor  and  spirit  not  found  among  many 
peoples  of  the  world. 

The  preamble  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  states  the  reasons  for  its  establishment  as 
follows :  "  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union ; 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro- 
vide for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  insure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity."  It  will  be  observed 
that  these  are  moral  ends,  including  unity,  justice, 
peace,  common  weal,  and  liberty.  They  are  all 
essential  to  a  democracy  like  our  own.  Teachers 
can  find  numerous  illustrations  under  the  work- 
ing of  the  constitution  to  show  its  relation 
and  the  relation  of  our  national  government  to 
these  ends. 

The  whole  slavery  question,  from  the  first  im- 
portation of  slaves  to  Virginia  in  1619  to  Lincoln's 
Emancipation  Proclamation  of  1863,  centers  round 
a  growing  and  changing  conception  of  justice. 
The  multiplication  of  laws  with  reference  to  the 
labor  of  men,  women,  and  children  is  another  evi- 
dence of  a  changing  notion  as  to  what  constitutes 
social  justice.  The  activities  of  such  organizations 
as  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the  Anti-Saloon  League  of 
America,  and  the  municipal,  state,  and  federal 
legislation  of  recent  years,  restricting  the  sale  of 
alcoholic  liquors,  and  in  numerous  instances  pro- 
hibiting it,  and  banishing  it  from  whole  states,  re- 
flect the  growing  place  which  the  moral  ideas  of 
temperance  and  justice  occupy  in  the  thinking  of 
our  people. 


96    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Significance  of  personal  examples  of  moral  acts. 
—  More  important  than  a  perception  of  laws  that  are 
so  operative  in  the  life  of  states  and  nations  as  to 
guarantee  ethical  results,  at  least  more  important 
for  elementary  school  students,  are  those  "  exam- 
ples of  heroism,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  love  of  country, 
of  devotion  to  principles  at  the  greatest  cost," 
with  which  the  pages  of  history  are  filled.  "  Not 
only  do  these  teach  children  the  meaning  of  virtue 
in  the  most  impressive  way,  they  present  examples 
for  imitation  and  inspire  the  learner  to  follow. 
The  behavior  of  Socrates  before  his  judges  or  of 
Giordano  Bruno  at  the  stake,  the  conduct  of  the 
Lacedaemonians  at  Thermopylae  or  of  the  American 
farmers  at  Bunker  Hill,  Sir  Philip  Sidney  dying, 
offering  the  cup  of  water  to  the  wounded  soldier 
beside  him,  or  Sir  Thomas  More  going  to  his  death 
for  the  sake  of  conscience :  incidents  like  these  re- 
veal the  depth  of  the  moral  life  of  mankind  as 
flashes  of  lightning  illuminate  a  dark  forest  at  night. 
They  not  only  show  what  is  noble  action,  but  touch 
us  with  the  contagion  of  heroic  deeds,  thus  making 
for  moral  culture  as  well  as  ethical  instruction." 
What  schoolboy  has  not  been  stirred  to  the  depths 
of  his  soul  by  the  reply  of  Henry  Clay  to  those  of  his 
friends  who  advised  him  to  abandon  a  course  he 
was  pursuing  because  it  would  injure  his  chances 
for  the  presidency,  when  he  said,  "  I  would  rather 
be  right  than  president."  And  what  a  new  mean- 
ing the  term  patriotism  has  had  for  many  of  us  since 
we  learned  of  the  dying  words  of  the  patriot,  Nathan 
Hale,  upon  the  scaffold,  "  I  regret  that  I  have  but 
one  life  to  give  for  my  country." 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY  97 

Lecky's  stress  on  the  moral  aspects  of  history.  — 

Lecky,  the  English  historian,  sets  forth  the  political 
value  of  history  in  an  essay  of  more  than  fifty  pages, 
which  closes  with  these  words  : 

"  Permit  me,  in  conclusion,  to  say  that  its  most  precious 
lessons  are  moral  ones.  .  .  .  Mistakes  in  statesmanship, 
military  triumphs  or  disasters,  no  doubt  affect  materially 
the  prosperity  of  nations,  but  their  permanent  political 
well-being  is  essentially  the  outcome  of  their  moral  state. 
Its  foundation  is  laid  in  pure  domestic  life,  in  commercial 
integrity,  in  a  high  standard  of  moral  worth  and  of  public 
spirit ;  in  simple  habits,  in  courage,  uprightness,  and  self- 
sacrifice,  in  a  certain  soundness  and  moderation  of  judg- 
ment, which  springs  quite  as  much  from  character  as 
from  intellect.  If  you  would  form  a  wise  judgment  of 
the  future  of  a  nation,  observe  carefully  whether  these 
qualities  are  increasing  or  decaying.  Observe  especially 
what  qualities  count  for  most  in  public  life.  Is  character 
becoming  of  greater  or  less  importance  ?  Are  the  men 
who  obtain  the  highest  posts  in  the  nation  men  of  whom 
in  private  life  and  irrespective  of  party  competent  judges 
speak  with  genuine  respect  ?  Are  they  men  of  sincere 
convictions,  sound  judgment,  consistent  lives,  indisputable 
integrity,  or  are  they  men  who  have  won  their  positions 
by  the  arts  of  a  demagogue  or  an  intriguer;  men  of 
nimble  tongues  and  not  earnest  beliefs  —  skilful,  above 
all  things,  in  spreading  their  sails  to  each  passing  breeze 
of  popularity  ?  Such  considerations  as  these  are  apt  to 
be  forgotten  in  the  fierce  excitement  of  a  party  contest; 
but  if  history  has  any  meaning,  it  is  such  considerations 
that  affect  most  vitally  the  permanent  well-being  of 
communities,  and  it  is  by  observing  this  moral  current 
that  you  can  best  cast  the  horoscope  of  a  nation/'  1 

1  The  Political  Value  of  History. 


98    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Froude  quoted.  —  Froude,  in  his  essay  on  history, 
says : 

"It  is  a  voice  forever  sounding  across  the  centuries 
the  laws  of  right  and  wrong.  Opinions  alter,  manners 
change,  creeds  rise  and  fall,  but  the  moral  law  is  written 
on  the  tablets  of  eternity.  For  every  false  word  or 
unrighteous  deed,  for  cruelty  and  oppression,  for  lust  or 
vanity,  the  price  has  to  be  paid  at  last ;  not  always  by 
the  chief  offenders,  but  paid  by  some  one.  Justice  and 
truth  alone  endure  and  live.  Injustice  and  falsehood 
may  be  long-lived,  but  doomsday  comes  at  last  to  them, 
in  French  revolutions  and  other  terrible  ways." 

And  again : 

"The  addres^  of  history  is  less  to  the  understanding 
than  to  the  higher  emotions.  We  learn  in  it  to  sympa- 
thize with  what  is  great  and  good ;  we  learn  to  hate  what 
is  base.  In  the  anomalies  of  fortune  we  feel  the  mystery 
of  our  mortal  existence ;  and  in  the  companionship  of  the 
illustrious  natures  who  have  shaped  the  fortunes  of  the 
world,  we  escape  from  the  littlenesses  which  cling  to  the 
round  of  common  life,  and  our  minds  are  tuned  in  a  higher 
and  nobler  key." 

Patriotism    an    outcome    of    history-teaching.  — 

Almost  every  one  who  has  thought  about  the  matter 
at  all  will  admit  that  one  aim  of  teaching  history 
is  to  teach  patriotism.  This,  of  course,  is  but  one 
phase  of  the  more  general  moral  aim,  for  patriotism 
is  a  moral  quality.  The  student  who  is  led  to 
compass  the  history  of  his  own  country ;  and  to 
know  the  price  that  has  been  paid  in  hardship  and 
struggle,  privation,  danger,  sacrifice,  blood,  and 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY  99 

death  by  countless  explorers,  early  settlers,  pioneers, 
and  frontiersmen  in  laying  the  foundations  of  this 
country,  must  be  dull  indeed  if  he  fail  to  respond 
with  patriotic  pride.  Ours  is  a  rich  heritage  of 
privilege,  opportunity,  and  blessing.  The  liberties 
we  enjoy  have  been  bought  with  a  price.  The  free 
institutions  we  have  are  not  the  result  of  caprice 
and  accident.  If  America  is  but  another  word  for 
opportunity,  it  is  so  because  our  forefathers  made 
it  so.  We  tend  to  take  it  all  for  granted,  and  to 
miss  the  obligation  it  imposes  unless  we  deepen  our 
understanding  of  its  significance  through  a  study 
of  the  slow  and  painful  process  by  which  it  has  de- 
veloped. The  pupil  who  identifies  himself  sympa- 
thetically with  the  men  and  movements  having  a 
part  in  the  drama  enacted  upon  the  New  World 
stage,  must  be  taken  out  of  his  own  little  self,  and 
must  grow  larger  and  freer  to  take  in  this  larger 
and  freer  world.  The  greatness  and  the  goodness 
of  this  republic  can  not  be  grasped  with  ease ;  but 
it  can  be  partially  understood  by  the  student  who 
begins  with  its  beginnings  in  the  establishment  of  a 
few  small  settlements  huddled  along  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  with  little  intercourse,  and  less  unity. 

Then  the  story  is  one  of  growth  in  unity  and 
numbers,  of  fighting  Indians,  felling  forests,  build- 
ing roads  and  cities,  conquering  foreign  foes,  making 
constitutions,  establishing  churches  and  schools, 
organizing  territories,  carving  out  states,  surveying 
lands  and  establishing  boundaries  of  townships  and 
farms,  crossing  rivers  and  mountains  and  plains, 
pushing  ever  westward,  overcoming  nature,  and 
fighting  and  building  mile  by  mile  and  foot  after 


100    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

foot,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  and  from  the 
Lakes  to  the  Gulf.  Even  with  this  attempt  to  trace 
step  by  step  the  progress  made  here  in  a  political 
and  material  way,  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  great- 
ness of  America  and  the  beneficence  of  its  civiliza- 
tion. We  need  from  time  to  time  the  fervid  ap- 
peals to  our  imaginations  made  by  such  men  as 
Jacob  Riis  and  such  women  as  Mary  Antin  before 
we  can  thrill  with  passionate  interest  in  our  de- 
mocracy. The  intelligent  immigrant  sees  and 
teaches  us  the  supericfrity  of  this  liberty-loving 
"  Promised  Land  "  over  the  less  favored  despotisms 
of  the  Old  World,  and  in  so  doing  gives  us  a  basis 
for  a  still  finer  type  of  patriotism.  But  the  history 
of  America  rightly  taught  ought  again  and  again  to 
lead  the  pupil  to  resolve,  as  did  Lincoln  at  Gettysburg, 
that  those  who  lived  and  died  in  establishing  our 
liberties,  our  institutions,  our  conveniences,  and  our 
material  wealth  shall  not  have  lived  and  died  in 
vain. 

Chauvinism  to  be  avoided.  —  But  along  with  the 
development  of  a  patriotic  pride  in  our  country,  the 
teaching  of  its  history  should  result  in  a  refinement 
and  a  rationalizing  of  that  patriotism.  The  pupil 
should  be  led  to  see  and  to  condemn  injustice  when 
it  has  been  exhibited  here.  Partisan  spirit  and 
sectional  jealousies  have  no  place  in  good  history- 
teaching.  Bombastic  pride  in  American  institu- 
tions must  not  be  permitted  to  blind  the  eyes  of 
pupils  to  the  virtues  of  other  nations.  Patriotism 
is  beautiful  but  chauvinism  is  as  deserving  of  ridicule 
here  as  it  was  when  its  founder  praised  his  monarch 
in  undeserved  and  exaggerated  phrase.  If  there  are 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTQRY-  ioi- 


dangers  in  our  political  institutions,  -arui  if  jtfe  Orient 
has  such  lessons  for  our  times  as  Pvabindranatli 
Tagore  has  pointed  out  in  his  lecture  tour  across 
the  continent,  our  pupils  will  not  be  less  truly  moral 
or  American  because  they  see  these  dangers  and 
become  more  oblivious  of  national  boundaries,  and 
more  nearly  international  in  their  sympathies  and 
in  their  thinking. 

Events  that  have  occurred  since  August,  1914, 
and  particularly  since  the  United  States  entered  the 
Great  War,  in  April,  1917,  all  point  to  the  necessity 
of  our  teaching  the  pupils  in  our  schools  henceforth 
to  think  and  feel  in  international  terms.  The  world 
has  dwindled  in  size.  Science  in  a  dozen  ways  has 
brought  us  into  closer  relationships  with  European 
shores  and  peoples.  Swift  and  mighty  steamships, 
submarines,  aeroplanes,  wireless  telegraphy  —  all 
assert  that  we  can  no  longer  claim  for  ourselves  the 
isolation  which  was  once  our  protection.  In  Wash- 
ington's and  Adams'  administrations  the  wisest 
statesmen  rightly  maintained  that  the  quarrels  of 
the  Old  World  were  nothing  to  us.  We  would  not 
suffer  ourselves  to  become  involved  in  any  of  their 
"entangling  alliances."  The  later  Monroe  Doc- 
trine as  vigorously  asserted  our  right  to  work  out  our 
own  destiny  in  the  New  World  without  interference 
at  the  hands  of  any  European  power.  The  change 
that  our  political  conceptions  have  undergone  since 
those  days  calls  to  mind  the  words  of  Lowell  : 

"New  occasions  teach  new  duties;   Time  makes  ancient 

good  uncouth  ; 

They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep 
abreast  of  Truth." 


102    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

;, .America  and  'the  international  spirit --Today, 
for  good  or  ill,  the  very  heart  of  the  moral  life  of 
our  republic  is  felt  to  beat  in  unison  with  the  heart- 
beats of  Europe.  We  now  find  that  democracy 
can  not  be  safe  in  America  except  as  it  is  made  safe 
for  the  world.  With  this  belief,  we  necessarily  con- 
ceive our  problems  as  world  problems.  The  neutral- 
ity once  advocated  as  a  political  privilege  and  neces- 
sity, and  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  so  long  a  powerful 
factor  in  our  history,  suddenly  became  outgrown. 
Our  interests,  our  sympathies,  our  relationships  are 
now  world-wide,  and  no  teacher  can  do  for  the  moral 
life  of  her  class  in  history  in  the  future  what  ought 
to  be  done  if  she  ignores  these  far-reaching  facts. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Discuss:    "No  person  is  in  a  position  to  pass  judg- 
ment  upon   the  moral   character  of  any   act   unless   he 
understands  thoroughly  all  of  the  conditions  which  sur- 
round the  act/'  l 

2.  Has  your  study  of  Ancient  History  convinced  you 
that  moral  decay  is  a  forerunner  of  the  political  downfall 
of  a  nation  ?     Illustrate.     Show  by  the  Spanish-American 
War  and  its  outcome  a  conflict  between  two  moral  codes. 

3.  What  moral  lessons  should  a  class  get  from  a  study 
of  the  following  :  Columbus ;  the  settlement  at  Plymouth ; 
Roger  Williams  ;     William   Penn  ;     John  Smith  ;     Peter 
Stuyvesant ;   the  Jesuits  ? 

4.  Indicate  to  what  extent  the  moral  qualities  of  the 
early  settlers  and  colonists  were  fostered  and  developed 
by   their   surroundings.     Explain   why   the    French    and 
Spanish  in  America  failed  to  exhibit  the  same  degree  of 

1  Judd,  Psychology  of  High  School  Subjects,  p.  378, 


MORALITY  THROUGH  HISTORY  103 

morality,  if  they  did  fail.  Did  the  three  nations  send 
men  to  America  with  equally  high  aims  ?  Justify  your 
opinion. 

5.  Should  grammar  grade  pupils  be  expected  to  form 
moral  judgments  concerning  slavery,  the  liquor  question, 
woman   suffrage,   child-labor  laws,   religious   intolerance, 
etc.  ? 

6.  As  you  recall  your  early  study  of  history,  tell  what 
effect  was  produced  upon  you  by  characters  and  incidents 
learned  in  the  textbook  and  exhibiting  industry;    thrift; 
suffering;    cruelty;    tyranny;    love  of  country;    friend- 
ship ;     betrayal  of  country ;     cowardice ;     bravery ;     pa- 
tience ;     reverence ;     cooperation ;     laziness ;     sympathy ; 
hardihood.     From  your  experience  do  you  conclude  that 
the  study  of  history  has  much  or  little  to  commend  it 
from  the  standpoint  of  its  moral  effects  ? 

7.  State  and  then  comment  upon  the  quotation  from 
Froude;    from  Lecky. 

8.  Who  was  Jacob  Riis  ?     What  contribution  has  he 
made  to  our  history  ? 

9.  Who  is  Mary  Antin  ?     Read  her  Promised  Land. 
Tell  how  its  reading  affects  your  appreciation  of  America. 

10.  What  is   chauvinism  ?     How  does  it  differ  from 
patriotism  ? 

11.  Who  is  Rabindranath  Tagore  ?     Consult  a  good 
library  (Poole's  Index)  for  magazine  articles  that  will  tell 
of  his  criticism  of  American  institutions  and  tendencies. 
His  numerous  books  are  worth  knowing,  too,  though  they 
do  not  bear  upon  this  topic. 

12.  Is  there  more  or  less  morality  involved  in  fighting 
for  humanity  than  in  fighting  for  one's  country  only  ? 
Justify  your   answer.     What   is   meant   by  the   phrases, 
"citizen  of  the  world/5  "international  consciousness"  ? 


104      MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

ANDREWS,  CHARLES  M. :   History  as  an  Aid  to  Moral  Culture, 

in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1894,  pp.  397-409. 
EMERSON,     RALPH    WALDO  :      Essays :     History.      Houghton 

Mifflin  Co. 
EMERSON,  RALPH  WALDO  :  Representative  Men :  Uses  of  Great 

Men.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
GRIGGS,  EDWARD  HOWARD  :  Moral  Education :  History.    B.  W. 

Huebsch. 
LECKY,  WILLIAM  E.  H. :   The  Political  Value  of  History.     D. 

Appleton  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MORALS  THROUGH   BIOGRAPHY 

Appeal  of  biography  to  children  outgrowing  myth 
and  legend.  —  For  children  of  tender  years  there 
are  myths,  legends,  and  fairy  tales  innumerable  that 
are  more  powerful  in  teaching  and  impressing  moral 
lessons  than  any  other  type  of  literature  can  be. 
In  the  kindergarten  and  the  first  one  or  two  of 
the  primary  grades,  e.g.,  it  is  a  matter  of  perennial 
interest  to  see  how  real  the  incidents  and  characters 
from  this  type  of  literature  seem,  and  how  strong  is 
the  appeal  they  make.  But  as  children  grow  older 
their  interest  in  myth  and  legend  diminishes  with 
their  developing  rational  powers,  and  in  the  grammar 
grades  and  high  school  they  find  increasing  satis- 
faction in  the  lives  and  achievements  of  real  men 
and  women,  whether  drawn  from  history  or  con- 
temporary life.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  home  and 
school  to  supply  children  of  this  period  with  abundant 
biographical  material,  for  in  so  doing  their  interests 
are  enlisted  and  their  ideals  are  fashioned.  Both 
consciously  and  unconsciously  the  dominant  ele- 
ments in  the  character  of  the  men  and  women  thus 
studied  lay  hold  of  the  lives  of  young  readers  and 
become  incorporated  in  them.  In  few  other  ways 
can  young  people  be  so  fully  and  so  "  permanently 
kindled  with  productive  enthusiasm  for  freedom  and 

105 


106    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

justice,  and  patriotism,  and  persistence,  and  honor 
and  courage,  and  faith  in  the  right." 

Influence  of  good  men  is  dynamic.  —  Rules  of 
conduct  have  their  place.  Precepts  and  proverbs 
are  not  without  value.  But  it  is  when  pupils  come 
to  know  a  character  like  Washington  or  Franklin 
habitually  acting  in  accordance  with  self-imposed 
rules,  that  they  feel  constrained  to  follow  them,  too. 

Theoretical  goodness  is  not  attractive,  but  there  is 
something  dynamic  in  the  influence  of  good  men 
and  women.  Virtuous  deeds  have  about  them  a 
degree  of  contagion  and  an  infectious  character 
that  no  amount  of  mere  preaching  can  have. 

Avoid  extreme  censorship.  —  In  this  connection  it 
is  not  out  of  place  to  say  that  biographies  need  not 
be  censored  to  the  point  of  making  them  bloodless, 
to  be  safe  for  children.  The  truthfulness  of  George 
Washington  was  perhaps  one  of  his  striking  char- 
acteristics, but  the  cherry-tree  story  which  we  all 
learned  in  the  nursery  or  a  little  later  was  perhaps 
a  figment  of  imagination  upon  the  part  of  some 
biographer  who  was  more  anxious  to  produce  an 
effect  than  to  tell  the  exact  truth  himself.  No 
wonder  a  small  boy,  after  hearing  this  story,  asserted 
that  he  was  better  than  Washington,  because 
"  George  couldn't  tell  a  lie,  while  he  could  but 
wouldn't  "  ! 

History  of  education  learned  through  lives  of  its 
reformers.  —  The  history  of  education  can  not  be 
learned  apart  from  the  lives  of  the  educational  re- 
formers of  the  centuries.  Normal  schools  and 
colleges  of  education  see  to  it  that  their  students 
get  acquainted  with  Socrates,  Plato,  Aristotle, 


MORALS  THROUGH  BIOGRAPHY  107 

Comenius,  Pestalozzi,  Froebel,  Rousseau,  Herbart, 
Horace  Mann,  Thomas  Arnold,  and  others  whose 
lives  have  been  indissolubly  linked  with  their 
teachings  and  reforms. 

The  Bible  made  vital  through  its  stories  of  great 
men  and  women.  -  -  The  Bible  as  a  guide  in  the 
moral  and  religious  life  would  be  powerless  to  pro- 
duce the  desired  effect  if  it  were  robbed  of  the  stories 
of  Abraham,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  Isaiah,  Elijah, 
Elisha,  David,  Jesus,  Peter,  Paul,  and  others  who 
embodied  more  or  less  fully  in  their  daily  living  the 
principles  of  living  they  attempted  to  universalize. 
In  the  same  way  the  lives  of  the  saints,  whether 
canonized  or  not,  have  always  been  regarded  by  the 
church  as  second  only  to  the  Bible  as  a  medium  for 
the  teaching  of  religious  truth  that  can  lay  hold  of 
life  and  give  it  the  religious  color  and  trend. 

A  lesson  learned  from  a  child.  —  But  recently  I 
learned  from  a  Jewish  boy  of  ten  something  of  the 
influence  that  the  life  of  a  worthy  man  may  exert 
upon  a  child.  With  his  parents,  who  were  able  to 
speak  but  broken  English,  he  rode  for  a  day  and 
night  in  a  Pullman  coach  with  his  seat  near  ours. 
The  long  journey  caused  him  to  seek  fellowship 
with  us.  It  developed  that  he  went  to  the  public 
school  of  his  little  home  town,  and  that  he  had 
learned  and  remembered  much  about  George  Wash- 
ington, whom  he  admires  greatly.  But  soon  he 
mentioned  Lincoln,  and  asserted  his  greater  love 
for  him,  because,  as  he  said,  "  Lincoln  didn't  have 
any  school  to  go  to,  while  Washington  did,  and  yet 
Lincoln  became  a  great  and  good  man,  and  president 
of  the  United  States,  too."  After  some  further 


108    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

comment  upon  the  relative  merits  of  these  two  heroes, 
his  face  brightened  still  more,  his  eyes  sparkled 
anew,  and  with  obvious  pride  in  the  further  sur- 
prising news  he  had  to  tell,  he  added,  "  But  say, 
have  you  heard  about  Columbus  ?  "  Then  he 
informed  us  about  the  daring  of  the  great  discoverer 
who  sailed  across  the  ocean  when  most  other  men 
feared  to  attempt  such  a  thing,  and  when  even 
his  sailors  tried  to  dissuade  him  from  going  on. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  had  ever  before  appreciated 
so  fully  how  real  and  how  attractive  these  three 
characters  —  Columbus,  Washington,  and  Lincoln 
—  may  be  to  a  child.  As  I  reflected  upon  the 
parental  background  of  this  child's  life,  and  upon 
the  stimulus  that  was  coming  to  him  from  such 
lives  brought  to  his  attention  in  the  public  schools, 
I  thought  I  understood  why  Horace  Mann  could 
call  "  the  common  school  the  hope  of  our  country/' 

Children  are  rightly  taught  that  "  honesty  is  the 
best  policy,"  but  there  is  in  the  life  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  e.g.,  one  of  the  most  powerful  examples  of 
this  truth.  Scott's  whole  life  is  one  of  singular 
interest  and  charm,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
anything  in  it  leaves  a  more  wholesome  influence 
with  the  young  reader  than  his  heroic  resolve,  when 
his  publishing  house  failed  and  engulfed  him  with 
debt,  to  start  anew  and  pay  off  every  dollar  of 
obligation,  though  he  might  have  taken  advantage 
of  a  bankruptcy  law  and  escaped  the  whole  burden. 

Clara  Barton  and  the  Red  Cross.  —  The  great  war 
into  which  we  have  at  last  been  plunged  "  to  make 
the  world  safe  for  democracy,"  has  magnified  for  all 
of  us  the  importance  of  the  American  Red  Cross  and 


MORALS  THROUGH   BIOGRAPHY  109 

its  work.  Where  until  a  few  months  ago  communi- 
ties gave  nothing,  or  at  most  but  a  few  dollars,  to 
this  organization,  they  are  now  giving  thousands,  and 
vying  with  one  another  in  increasing  their  sub- 
scriptions. No  better  time  was  ever  offered  for 
acquainting  the  young  with  the  life  and  inspiring 
example  of  its  American  founder,  Clara  Barton. 

Though  a  somewhat  precocious  girl,  she  long 
seemed  destined  to  failure  in  life  because  of  an 
excessive  shyness  and  timidity  in  the  presence  of 
other  people.  Her  high-school  days  were  cut  short 
because  of  this  affliction,  which  rendered  her  tearful 
and  speechless  in  class.  At  last  somebody  advised 
her  to  teach,  believing  that  with  an  increased 
responsibility  she  would  throw  aside  her  timidity  and 
find  herself  in  working  for  others.  At  sixteen  she 
took  charge  of  her  first  school.  On  the  opening  day, 
"  too  frightened  to  look  her  pupils  in  the  face,"  she 
had  to  fasten  her  eyes  upon  her  Bible  and  read  aloud 
to  her  pupils  until  she  gained  composure.  "  She 
soon  observed,  however,  that  they  respected  and 
even  stood  in  awe  of  her.  That  was  a  totally  new 
experience  —  that  any  one  should  feel  abashed 
before  her.  The  timid  girl's  warm  sympathy  flowed 
out  to  those  who  were  also  timid ;  and  almost  in 
a  day  her  weakness  had  been  transmuted  into 
a  teacher's  most  golden  attributes  —  sympathetic 
understanding  and  kindness."  Her  success  as  a 
teacher  and  the  qualities  in  her  which  made  her 
success  possible  commend  her  to  teachers  today  as 
one  worthy  of  emulation.  But  illness  after  a  few 
years  compelled  her  to  give  up  her  school,  and,  as  it 
proved,  her  profession. 


no    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Her  next  ambition  was  to  defend  the  rights  of 
inventors  who  were  being  fraudulently  cheated  out 
of  these  rights  through  scandals  that  were  connected 
with  the  Patent  Office  in  Washington.  Securing 
an  appointment  as  head  clerk  in  this  office,  she  set 
about  reforming  it.  Naturally  enough  she  met 
stout  opposition,  but  within  three  years,  in  spite  of 
the  rudeness,  disobedience,  and  slander  that  were 
used  as  weapons  against  her,  she  accomplished  her 
task  and  thoroughly  reformed  the  office. 

Her  big  opportunity  to  serve  "  her  country  and 
humanity  "  came  early  in  the  Civil  War  with  the 
arrival  in  Washington  of  a  trainload  of  wounded 
soldiers.  Voluntarily  undertaking  the  work  of  bind- 
ing up  the  wounds  and  relieving  the  pain  of  the  suffer- 
ing men  because  nurses  were  few  and  the  need  was 
great,  she  quickly  found  herself  and  her  mission, 
and,  almost  before  she  knew  it,  was  a  national  figure, 
dispensing  food,  medicines,  and  bandages  wherever 
in  her  judgment  they  were  most  needed. 

The  rest  of  the  story  cannot  be  told  here,  but  it 
should  be  available  for  boys  and  girls,  for  it  illustrates 
so  well  the  truthfulness  of  Miss  Barton's  own  words  : 
"  I  have  no  mission.  I  have  never  had  a  mission. 
But  I  have  always  had  more  work  than  I  could  do 
lying  around  my  feet,  and  I  try  hard  to  get  it  out  of 
the  way  so  as  to  go  on  and  do  the  next." 

Clara  Barton's  life  was  a  life  of  service,  and  it  is 
this  fact  which  makes  it  of  supreme  worth  today. 
The  war  is  emphasizing  anew  the  ideal  of  service. 
Perhaps  this  is  to  be  one  of  the  compensations  for 
the  loss  to  the  world  of  treasures  of  art,  millions  of 
men,  and  billions  of  dollars.  Men,  women,  and 


MORALS  THROUGH   BIOGRAPHY  ill 

children  are  called  upon  to  serve,  to  do  their  bit,  to 
enlist,  to  train,  to  produce,  to  conserve,  for  the 
common  good.  To  shut  one's  eyes  to  suffering,  to 
turn  a  deaf  ear  to  calls  for  help,  to  hoard,  to  waste, 
to  take  one's  ease  in  complacent  selfishness,  to  get 
rich  at  the  expense  of  the  unfortunate,  to  be  a 
slacker,  was  never  so  reprehensible  as  now.  Hence 
it  is  that  well-selected  examples  from  the  field  of 
biography  are  needed  today  to  reenforce  by  their 
example  children's  appreciation  of  this  new  need. 
Happily  there  have  always  been  men  and  women 
who  anticipated  the  present  demand.  When  the 
call  from  without  was  less  insistent,  from  their  inner 
urge  they  taught  us,  and  still  teach  us,  how  to  work, 
how  to  use  time,  how  to  value  knowledge,  how  to 
conserve,  and  how  to  serve.  Always  suggestive  and 
always  inspiring,  their  lives  have  more  than  ordinary 
value  for  boys  and  girls  today. 

Luther  Burbank.  —  Because  the  government  is 
justly  urging  it  as  a  patriotic  duty  for  citizens  who 
can  to  increase  the  food  production  of  farm  and 
garden  everywhere,  no  better  time  could  be  found 
for  making  school  children  acquainted  with  that 
wizard  of  plant  life,  Luther  Burbank.  His  achieve- 
ments of  practical  benefit  to  the  race  can  be  counted 
by  the  score.  Part  of  the  story  is  marvelous  as  a 
tale  of  the  Arabian  Nights,  but  there  is  a  background 
of  industry,  experimentation,  patience,  and  per- 
severance that  gives  moral  significance  to  his  life 
apart  from  its  utility.  It  was  a  wise  man  who  said 
that  he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where 
one  grew  before  is  a  public  benefactor.  There  are 
evidences  to  make  us  believe  today  that  one  who 


112    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

can  teach  us  how  to  make  two  bushels  of  wheat  or 
beans  or  potatoes  grow  where  one  grew  before  will 
prove  to  be  one  of  the  saviors  of  his  country  and  of  a 
great  cause.  The  devotion  and  singleness  of  purpose 
of  Burbank,  if  caught  by  children  having  access  to 
farm  and  garden,  will  surely  be  of  help  in  this  crisis, 
and  of  no  less  value  when  the  crisis  has  passed. 

Thomas  A.  Edison.  —  In  planning  for  its  defense 
and  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  the  government 
has  been  pleased  to  utilize  the  services  of  Thomas  A. 
Edison.  He  speaks  with  an  authority  in  certain 
lines  unequaled  by  that  of  any  other  man  of  his 
age.  But  while  Edison  is  a  wizard  he  is  not  an 
accident.  Present  world-conditions  and  needs,  and 
Edison's  contribution  today,  make  the  time  oppor- 
tune for  teaching  the  story^of  his  life.  There  are 
numerous  elements  in  it,  most  of  them  not  unlike 
those  in  Burbank's  life,  that  contribute  to  the  moral 
fiber  of  the  child  who  gets  acquainted  with  him. 

Handicaps.  —  Shakespeare  makes  the  Duke  say 
in  As  You  Like  It: 

"Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity, 
Which  like  the  toad,  ugly  and  venomous, 
Yet  wears  a  precious  jewel  in  his  head." 

The  libraries  of  biography  are  full  of  illustrations 
of  this  truth.  Such  books  as  Poor  Boys  Who  Became 
Famous  and  Poor  Girls  Who  Became  Famous  will 
always  be  read  with  pride  and  hopefulness  by  the 
children  of  the  poor.  One  who  grows  up  in  a  home 
of  straitened  circumstances,  deprived  of  luxuries, 
used  to  work,  and  fearful  that  as  a  result  he  may 
miss  the  coveted  prizes  of  life,  takes  courage  when  he 


MORALS  THROUGH  BIOGRAPHY  113 

sees  how  the  world  has  finally  recognized  and  honored 
men  and  women  of  worth,  however  humble  their 
birth.  Each  new  generation  of  children  finds 
inspiration  in  the  life  of  Lincoln  and  Garfield  for 
this  reason,  and  in  scores  of  men  and  women  who 
have  overcome  the  obstacle,  more  fancied  than  real, 
of  poverty  and  privation. 

Stories  of  this  sort  we  have  with  us  so  much  that 
it  is  refreshing  to  read  an  occasional  life  of  one  who 
overcame  the  obstacle  of  being  born  rich,  and  either 
blessed  the  world  with  his  wealth,  or  blessed  it  with 
his  hands  in  spite  of  his  wealth.  Florence  Nightin- 
gale belongs  in  the  latter  class.  Her  life  should  be 
made  familiar  to  every  girl  of  the  grammar  grades  of 
our  public  schools.  Few  lives  can  be  found  more 
fully  and  literally  embodying  the  ideal  of  service  so 
much  needed  at  this  time. 

Florence  Nightingale  and  the  Crimean  War.  — 
The  calling  of  a  nurse  is  so  honorable  and  so  highly 
esteemed  in  this  age  that  it  is  surprising  to  learn 
that  before  Florence  Nightingale's  time  "  it  was," 
as  she  says,  "  largely  in  the  hands  of  the  coarsest 
type  of  women,  not  only  untrained,  but  callous  in 
feeling,"  and  often  of  low  character.  People  believed 
"  that  it  requires  nothing  but  a  disappointment  in 
love,  the  want  of  an  object,  a  general  disgust  or  in- 
capacity for  other  things  to  turn  a  woman  into  a 
good  nurse."  How  different  the  conception  today! 
Thanks  to  this  angel  of  the  Crimean  War,  the  best  of 
women  see  in  nursing  an  opportunity  for  social  service 
which  calls  for  scientific  training,  tact,  patience, 
sympathy,  and  often  administrative  ability  of  a 
high  order.  Not  only  our  hospitals,  but  our  cities, 


114    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

our  homes,  our  schools  employ  trained  nurses  in 
ever-growing  numbers.  Thus  it  really  seems  that 
she  "  has  affected  all  modern  history,"  as  one  of  her 
biographers  asserts.  In  spite  of  wealth  and  social 
prominence  she  humbled  herself  to  serve  and  lent 
dignity  to  this  valuable  form  of  service.  To  her 
it  was  "  God's  work."  Her  estimate  of  its  character 
may  best  be  given  in  her  own  words : 

"Nursing  is  an  art;  and  if  it  is  to  be  made  an  art, 
requires  as  exclusive  a  devotion  as  any  painter's  or  sculp- 
tor's work ;  for  what  is  the  having  to  do  with  dead  canvas 
or  cold  marble  compared  with  having  to  do  with  the  living 
body,  the  temple  of  God's  spirit  ?  Nursing  is  one  of  the 
fine  arts ;  I  had  almost  said  the  finest  of  the  fine  arts." 

Frances  Willard  and  her  influence.  —  Another 
one  of  the  "  uncrowned  queens  "  peculiarly  worthy 
of  introduction  to  the  youth  of  today  is  Frances 
Willard.  Few  statesmen,  warriors,  or  others  whom 
the  world  has  pronounced  great  have  been  more 
influential  than  she  in  shaping  a  nation's  thought  and 
will.  She  opposed  many  forms  of  vice,  but  will  be 
remembered  by  posterity  for  her  lifelong  crusade 
against  intemperance. 

Today,  when  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  just 
rising  to  the  level  of  her  conception  of  the  enormity 
of  this  evil,  we  may  well  wish  to  know  the  life  history 
of  this  herald  of  a  new  day,  this  voice  that  cried  in 
the  wilderness  so  long  before  it  seemed  to  make 
itself  heard. 

The  United  States,  nerving  itself  for  the  awful 
struggle  in  which  it  is  engaged  at  present,  realizes 
that  it  can  not  afford  to  weaken  itself  and  jeopardize 


MORALS  THROUGH  BIOGRAPHY  115 

its  chances  for  success  by  wasting  its  resources  or  its 
men  through  alcohol.  Russia  learned  the  same 
lesson  two  years  earlier  and  banished  vodka.  But 
the  lesson  which  the  world  is  being  taught  by  war, 
Frances  Willard  taught  for  a  lifetime  in  a  time  of 
peace.  The  nations  are  just  catching  her  vision. 
Surely  the  principles  which  controlled  her  life  and 
enabled  her  to  do  her  work  for  the  purity  of  home  life, 
for  the  emancipation  of  women,  and  for  the  abolition 
of  intemperance  and  its  attendant  evils  are  principles 
which  will  make  an  appeal  to  children  who  see  them 
incarnate  in  her. 

Jacob  Riis.  —  Jacob  Riis,  who  taught  Americans 
"  How  the  Other  Half  Lives,"  is  another  of  the 
lives  that  should  find  a  place  in  the  elementary 
school.  Colonel  Roosevelt  called  him  "  America's 
most  valued  citizen/'  Whether  we  would  all  agree 
with  that  estimate  or  not,  few  can  read  his  books 
without  being  influenced  to  emulate  his  example  in 
striving  to  do  something  to  help  the  unfortunate  and 
make  the  world  a  better  place  in  which  to  live. 

Helen  Keller,  Booker  Washington.  —  But  it  would 
take  us  beyond  the  limits  of  this  chapter  to  do  more 
than  suggest  the  rich  heritage  in  moral  lessons  and 
moral  influence  that  must  come  to  the  child  or  older 
student  who  gets  intimately  acquainted  with  char- 
acters of  the  type  already  illustrated.  Helen 
Keller's  marvelous  life,  and  her  incredible  achieve- 
ments in  spite  of  the  awful  handicap  of  a  lack  of  the 
sense  of  hearing  and  of  sight,  must  give  new  courage 
and  strength  to  every  weak  will  which  is  tempted  to 
give  up  a  worthy  object  of  desire  because  of  the 
difficulties  involved  in  achieving  it.  Booker  Wash- 


Il6    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

ington's  Up  from  Slavery  has  as  many  moral  lessons 
for  young  white  readers  as  his  great  school  at  Tuske- 
gee  has  had  for  the  thousands  of  negro  students 
who  have  learned  there  how  to  be  better  men  and 
women  while  becoming  better  farmers,  mechanics, 
or  home-makers. 

Dr.  Grenfell.  —  Dr  Grenfell's  labors  in  Labrador 
as  missionary,  physician,  nurse,  and  friendly  coun- 
selor rank  him  as  one  of  the  finest  representatives 
of  the  practical  religion  which  Jesus  practiced  and 
taught.  Let  our  students  know  him.  Nothing 
need  be  said  about  either  religion  or  morality  to  give 
training  in  both,  while  his  acquaintance  is  being 
made. 

But  examples  need  not  be  multiplied.  All  that 
might  be  given  here  would  still  be  suggestive  only. 
There  is  both  an  intellectual  and  a  moral  uplift 
for  the  more  mature  student  in  fellowship  with  such 
books  as  Emerson's  Representative  Men  and  Carlyle's 
Heroes  and  Hero  Worship.  Even  younger  students 
can  profit  by  Plutarch's  Lives. 

Sir  Humphry  Davy  has  been  widely  quoted  as 
saying,  when  he  was  praised  for  his  important  dis- 
coveries, "  My  best  discovery  was  Michael  Faraday." 
In  like  manner  it  can  be  said  that  one  of  the  best 
discoveries  that  any  boy  or  girl  can  make  is  a  man  or 
woman  of  real  worth  ;  one  who  by  example  has  shown 
the  world  what  the  factors  are  which  constitute  true 
success  and  true  greatness.  Some  time  ago  I  heard 
a  kindred  truth  expressed  by  a  minister  while 
preaching  to  his  congregation.  He  was  elaborating 
for  purposes  of  emphasis  the  fact  that  the  Bible 
as  a  book  of  truth  and  life  is  most  influential  when 


MORALS   THROUGH   BIOGRAPHY  117 

its  teachings  are  embodied  in  the  lives  of  men  and 
women.  In  this  connection  he  added,  "  The  best 
Bible  is  not  bound  in  sheep  skin  but  in  human  skin." 
This,  of  course,  was  but  a  forceful  way  of  saying 
that  the  virtues,  moral  and  religious,  enjoined  upon 
us  in  the  Bible  as  ideals  of  human  conduct  and 
principles  of  daily  living  are  best  understood  and 
most  potent  in  modifying  character  when  found  in- 
carnate in  man.  It  is  just  this  fact  that  makes  the 
biographies  of  worthy  men  and  women  an  important 
factor  in  the  moral  education  of  children,  entitled, 
therefore,  to  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  library  of 
schools  and  homes,  and  a  no  less  conspicuous  place 
in  courses  of  study  for  children  in  the  grades. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Tell  why  you  think  the  use  of  biography  important 
in  the  education  of  children. 

2.  Make  a  list  of  the  biographies  you  think  it  im- 
portant  for  children   to   know  rather  intimately   before 
reaching  the  high  school. 

3.  What  virtues  found  in  men  and  women,  either  in 
life  or  books,  have  been  most  effective  in  shaping  your 
own  life  ?     Did  you  take  any  character  as  your  own  ideal 
early  in  life  ? 

4.  What  are  the  outstanding  qualities  in  each  of  the 
following   lives,    as   you   understand   them :      Columbus, 
Washington,    Lincoln,    Grant,    Lee,    McKinley,    Frances 
Willard,  Mary  Lyon,  Clara  Barton,  Florence  Nightingale, 
Thomas    Jefferson,    Patrick    Henry,    Jacob    Riis,    Cyrus 
Field,    William     Lloyd     Garrison,     Benjamin     Franklin, 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Cyrus  McCormick,  Daniel  Boone  ? 

5.  Justify  the  teaching  of  the  life  of  Aaron   Burr; 


Il8    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Benedict  Arnold.  What  is  the  effect  upon  the  normal 
eighth  grade  child  of  a  reading  of  Hale's  "The  Man 
Without  a  Country"  ? 

6.  Three  books  grammar  grade  children  may  well  be 
asked  to  read  are :  Booker  T.  Washington's  Up  From 
Slavery;  Helen  Keller's  The  Story  of  My  Life;  and 
Franklin's  Autobiography. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BOLTON,  SARAH  K. :    Famous  Leaders  Among  Men.    Thos.  Y. 

Crowell  Co. 
BOLTON,  SARAH  K. :    Famous  Leaders  Among  Women.     Thos. 

Y.  Crowell  Co. 
EMERSON,    RALPH   WALDO  :    Representative   Men.     Houghton 

Mifflin  Co. 
KELLER,  HELEN  :  The  Story  of  My  Life.     Doubleday,  Page  & 

Co. 
MARDEN,  ORISON  SWETT  :    Pushing   to  the   Front.    Thos.  Y. 

Crowell  Co. 
McTuRNAN,  LAWRENCE  :    The  Personal  Equation.     Atkinson, 

Mentzer  &  Grover  Co. 
PLUTARCH'S  Lives. 
WASHINGTON,    BOOKER  T. :    Up   From   Slavery.      Doubleday, 

Page  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  IX 

MORAL   TRAINING   THROUGH   CURRENT  EVENTS 

Moral  qualities  displayed  by  incidents  and  char- 
acters around  us.  -  -  The  short  period  given  in  most 
school  programs  to  opening  or  general  exercises 
presents  an  admirable  opportunity  to  the  teacher  to 
teach  effective  moral  lessons.  Incidents  and  char- 
acters that  have  come  under  the  teacher's  personal 
observation,  and  those  that  have  found  a  place  in 
the  newspapers  and  magazines  of  the  day,  are  often 
embodiments  of  moral  qualities  of  the  most  dy- 
namic sort.  Judiciously  used  in  the  schoolroom, 
their  timeliness  accentuates  the  force  of  their  appeal. 
Too  often  we  are  blind  to  the  heroic  in  life  all  about 
us,  but  for  teachers  to  be  on  the  alert  to  discover  it, 
and,  having  discovered  it,  to  acquaint  their  pupils 
with  it,  is  one  of  the  sure  ways  of  approach  to  their 
moral  natures. 

Discovery  and  use  of  the  heroic  around  us.  - 
It  is  good  for  a  child  to  know  the  life  of  Aristides, 
whose  most  pronounced  virtue  was  embalmed  in 
the  appellation,  the  Just ;  it  is  profitable  to  know 
Lincoln  so  intimately  that  one  can  feel  the  appro- 
priateness of  the  name,  Honest  Abe,  so  often  applied 
to  him ;  it  is  inspiring  to  read  the  story  of  Leonidas 
and  his  gallant  band  at  the  pass  of  Thermopylae; 
but  children  need  not  go  so  far  away  in  time  or 

119 


120    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

space  to  find  exhibitions  of  moral  qualities  and  the 
heroic  in  life.  They  ought  to  be  introduced  to  the 
heroes  and  heroines  all  about  them,  for  they  are  to 
be  found  in  every  neighborhood,  and  there  is  scarcely 
an  issue  of  a  daily  paper  that  does  not  chronicle 
some  deed  of  service  or  sacrifice  worthy  of  emulation. 
What  makes  life  significant.  -  -  The  late  William 
James,  in  his  essay,  "  What  Makes  Life  Significant," 
says  : 

"Wishing  for  heroism  and  the  spectacle  of  human 
nature  on  the  rack,  I  had  never  noticed  the  great  fields 
of  heroism  lying  round  about  me,  I  had  failed  to  see  it 
present  and  alive.  I  could  only  think  of  it  as  dead  and 
embalmed,  labelled  and  costumed,  as  it  is  in  the  pages  of 
romance.  And  yet  there  it  was  before  me  in  the  daily 
lives  of  the  laboring  classes.  Not  in  clanging  fights  and 
desperate  marches  only  is  heroism  to  be  looked  for,  but 
on  every  railway  bridge  and  fire-proof  building  that  is 
going  up  today.  On  freight  trains,  on  the  decks  of  vessels, 
in  cattle-yards  and  mines,  on  lumber-rafts,  among  the 
firemen  and  the  policemen,  the  demand  for  courage  is 
incessant;  and  the  supply  never  fails.  There,  every  day 
of  the  year  somewhere,  is  human  nature  in  extremis  for 
you.  And  wherever  a  scythe,  an  ax,  a  pick,  or  a  shovel 
is  wielded,  you  have  it  sweating  and  aching  and  with  its 
powers  of  patient  endurance  racked  to  the  utmost  under 
the  length  of  hours  of  the  strain. 

"As  I  awoke  to  all  this  unidealized  heroic  life  around 
me,  the  scales  seemed  to  fall  from  my  eyes ;  and  a  wave 
of  sympathy  greater  than  anything  I  had  ever  before 
felt  with  the  common  life  of  common  men  began  to  fill 
my  soul.  It  began  to  seem  as  if  virtue  with  horny  hands 
and  dirty  skin  were  the  only  virtue  genuine  and  vital 
enough  to  take  account  of.  Every  other  virtue  poses; 
none  is  absolutely  unconscious  and  simple,  and  unex- 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      1 21 

pectant  of  decoration  or  recognition,  like  this.  These 
are  our  soldiers,  thought  I,  these  our  sustainers,  these 
the  very  parents  of  our  life."  1 

Heroes  in  unromantic  walks.  —  Fanny  E.  Coe2 
has  compiled  a  reader  for  the  upper  grades  telling 
the  dramatic  stones  of  eight  such  heroes  of  the 
unromantic  walks  of  life.  The  diver,  the  telegraph 
operator,  the  civil  engineer,  the  day  laborer,  the 
life-saver,  the  fireman,  the  engineer  at  sea,  and  the 
miner  enter  into  the  contents  of  this  book.  The 
incidents  recorded  are  thrilling  in  each  case ;  they 
are  all  illustrative  of  heroic  deeds  done  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  without  hope  of  renown,  and  without  any 
of  the  stimulus  and  glamour  by  which  soldiers  are 
often  incited  to  deeds  of  valor.  But,  more  than 
that,  they  are  suggestive  of  the  type  of  moral  quali- 
ties displayed  by  common  men  and  women  in  every 
walk  of  life  in  almost  every  neighborhood.  Nothing 
done  upon  the  field  of  battle  is  more  effective  in 
teaching  and  impressing  moral  lessons  than  these 
incidents  which  come  under  the  observation  of 
teacher  and  pupils  alike,  or  at  least  within  the  range 
of  their  daily  newspaper  reading.  They  only  need 
to  be  seized  by  the  teacher  and  used  at  the  psycho- 
logical moment  to  make  permanent  impressions  for 
good  in  the  lives  of  children.  In  fact  such  lessons 
command  a  degree  of  attention  from  children  that 
lessons  from  books  seldom  receive. 

A  lesson  from  the  sinking  of  the  Titanic.  —  The 
bravery  and  the  chivalry  of  the  men  who  went  down 

1  Talks  to  Teachers  and  Students,  p.  274  ff. 

2  Heroes  of  Everyday  Life. 


122    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

with  the  Titanic  is  an  instance  in  point.  "  Women 
and  children  first  "  was  their  motto.  It  even  over- 
came the  instinct  for  self-preservation,  so  that  they 
deliberately  stood  back  and  waited  their  doom  with 
the  sinking  vessel,  while  the  women  and  children 
were  given  a  place  in  the  small  boats  and  at  least 
one  more  opportunity  for  rescue  from  immediate 
death.  —  That  the  mind  grows  by  what  it  feeds 
upon,  is  a  truism ;  and  if  the  quality  of  mind  and 
heart  exhibited  by  the  men  who  voluntarily  went 
down  with  the  Titanic  is  one  that  should  be  fos- 
tered in  men  generally,  such  incidents  deserve  to 
be  brought  to  the  attention  of  children  in  home  and 
school  as  well. 

Common  illustrations.  —  Of  a  less  striking  sort, 
but  no  less  worthy  of  imitation,  are  the  instances  of 
honor,  and  integrity  to  be  found  in  the  financial  deal- 
ings of  men  at  times  when  there  is  opportunity  for 
dishonor  and  dishonesty  without  discovery.  The 
family  of  Mr.  A.  buys  groceries  of  Mr.  B.  and  has 
them  charged  day  after  day.  At  the  end  of  the 
month  the  grocer  sends  his  -statement  and  Mr.  A. 
pays  the  bill  and  takes  a  receipt  for  the  same,  show- 
ing that  the  bill  was  paid  in  full.  On  going  home 
and  looking  over  the  cost  of  the  several  items  in- 
cluded in  the  statement  he  discovers  that  the  grocer 
made  a  trifling  mistake  in  addition  and  thus  cheated 
himself  out  of  a  dollar.  What  is  Mr.  A.'s  duty  under 
these  circumstances  ?  Is  he  under  a  moral  obliga- 
tion to  go  to  the  grocer  and  pay  him  another  dollar  ? 
Some  men  would  not  do  so.  Would  the  pupil  do 
so  ?  Can  members  of  the  class  cite  instances  in 
which  children  or  adults  have  done  so  ?  As  a  matter 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      123 

of  fact,  at  least  three  out  of  four  men  would  prob- 
ably take  the  initiative  in  correcting  such  an  error 
under  similar  circumstances.  A  brief  discussion  of 
the  matter  and  of  the  results  likely  to  follow  from 
either  course  of  action  will  surely  be  profitable. 

Some  boys  and  some  men  think  it  permissible  to 
ride  on  a  street  car  or  on  a  train  and  not  pay  the 
regulation  fare  or  give  up  their  ticket  if  the  conduc- 
tor does  not  happen  to  call  for  it.  Are  there  others 
who  would  voluntarily  hunt  up  the  conductor  and 
pay  for  their  ride  under  such  conditions  ?  Is  there 
a  moral  obligation  in  the  case  ?  If  so,  what  is  it  ? 

These  are  days  when  an  education  is  generally 
highly  esteemed.  In  the  neighborhood  is  a  girl 
who  is  ambitious  for  a  high-school  and  college  edu- 
cation. There  are  younger  brothers  and  sisters  and 
an  invalid  mother  in  the  home.  That  the  younger 
brothers  and  sisters  may  get  the  best  education  pos- 
sible the  oldest  stays  at  home  and  denies  herself  the 
satisfaction  which  her  ambition  calls  for.  Can  you 
find  such  an  example  of  sacrifice  ?  A  brief  reference 
to  an  actual  example  of  it,  and  a  brief  discussion  of 
the  merits  of  the  case  will  teach  a  needed  lesson. 

Courtship  and  marriage  are  natural  and  honorable 
in  most  lives  at  the  appropriate  age.  Is  there  a 
young  woman  of  your  acquaintance  denying  her- 
self the  pleasure  of  this  estate  that  she  may  devote 
herself  to  a  widowed  mother  who  needs  her  ?  Is  the 
sacrifice  a  necessary  one  ?  Is  it  commendable  ?  Is 
it  a  rare  example  of  unselfishness  ?  Is  it  a  worth- 
while topic  to  consider  in  school  ? 

While  it  seems  to  me  that  children  will  usually  find 
it  most  helpful  to  consider  the  examples  of  virtuous 


124    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

lives,  occasionally  the  teacher  has  an  opportunity 
to  present  examples  of  an  opposite  sort  with  excel- 
lent results.  In  a  certain  community  there  was  a 
mysterious  fire  recently  in  the  basement  of  a  house 
in  which  a  man  had  stored  his  household  goods  after 
having  them  rather  heavily  insured.  The  finger  of 
suspicion  pointed  towards  the  owner,  but  he  pro- 
tested his  innocence.  It  was  months  before  the 
net  closed  round  him  to  such  an  extent  that  there 
was  nothing  left  for  him  to  do  except  to  confess  to 
the  crime  of  arson  and  throw  himself  on  the  mercy 
of  the  court.  The  whole  affair  was  such  as  to  lend 
itself  to  the  teaching  of  a  most  impressive  lesson  in 
the  schoolroom  of  that  neighborhood,  and  the 
teachers  who  used  it  for  that  purpose  were  doing 
their  obvious  duty. 

A  lesson  from  cases  of  arson  and  bigamy.  —  In 
the  same  city  a  prominent  man  was  arrested  for  big- 
amy. He  spent  months  in  jail  before  his  trial,  at 
which  his  guilt  was  clearly  established  and  he  was 
sentenced  to  spend  an  indefinite  period  in  the  peni- 
tentiary. This  incident,  too,  was  one  which  some 
teachers  used  with  good  effect.  Not  only  the 
meaning  of  arson  and  bigamy,  but  the  legal  conse- 
quences of  these  crimes  was  presented  to  pupils  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  them  appear  in  their  proper 
light  as  immoral  and  socially  reprehensible  acts. 

Some  children  are  so  well  fortified  in  their  morality 
before  reaching  the  high-school  age  that  they  can 
appreciate  the  words  of  Milton  in  "Comus,"  in 
which  he  says : 

"He  that  has  light  in  his  own  clear  breast 
May  sit  i'  the  center,  and  enjoy  bright  day : 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      125 

But  he  that  hides  a  foul  soul  and  dark  thoughts, 
Benighted  walks  under  the  midday  sun ; 
Himself  is  his  own  dungeon/' 

Most  children,  however,  find  an  added  incentive 
for  virtuous  conduct  in  having  brought  to  their  at- 
tention from  time  to  time  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures 
that  "  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard."  When 
concrete  instances  of  this  truth  are  presented,  and 
when  they  are  permitted  to  see  Nemesis  overtake 
the  evildoer  under  their  very  eyes,  they  have  the 
sort  of  deterrent  they  need  to  keep  them  from  be- 
lieving that  moral  precepts  are  well  enough  to  preach 
but  really  have  but  little  relation  to  life  outside  of 
the  sermons  of  parents  and  preachers.  The  press 
of  the  country  is  filled  with  accounts  of  accidents, 
murders,  suicides,  arrests,  trials,  court  sentences, 
and  other  more  or  less  sensational  news.  Too  much 
of  this  sort  of  thing  is  not  good  for  youthful  readers ; 
but  the  teacher  and  the  parent  may  turn  some  of 
it  to  good  account  by  taking  pains  to  emphasize 
the  relation  that  exists  between  these  tragic  results 
and  the  breaking  of  civil  and  moral  laws  that  pre- 
ceded them. 

A  man  is  half  crazed  by  drink.  In  this  condition 
he  takes  the  life  of  an  innocent  friend,  or  of  his  own 
wife  or  child.  A  bank  cashier  begins  to  indulge  in 
unwarranted  and  extravagant  habits,  to  appropriate 
moneys  that  do  not  belong  to  him,  to  make  false 
entries  in  his  books  and  hide  his  deception  for  a 
time;  but  the  day  of  exposure  always  comes  sooner 
or  later,  and  with  it  dismissal,  dishonor,  a  prison 
sentence,  and  a  blasted  life.  Such  newspaper  items 


126    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

can  be  used  to  make  vice  appear  in  its  proper  light, 
and  to  give  children  a  heightened  appreciation  of 
the  social  and  personal  values  of  virtue  and  right 
conduct.  They  need  to  see  that  there  is  a  World 
Order ;  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  retribution ; 
that  "  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also 
reap  " ;  that  moral  laws,  like  physical  and  natural 
laws,  cannot  be  broken  with  impunity. 

Opportunities  for  the  expressive  side  of  morality. 
-  Again,  children  grow  in  certain  moral  lines 
through  the  expression  of  their  moral  instincts  and 
impulses.  For  this  reason,  when  the  newspapers 
are  filled  with  accounts  of  great  suffering,  want, 
and  destitution  in  any  part  of  the  world  which  needs 
quick  relief,  pupils  in  our  public  schools  need  the 
sort  of  training  that  can  best  come  through  express- 
ing some  portion  of  their  sympathy  in  tangible  form. 
To  take  up  a  collection  in  school  for  the  San  Fran- 
cisco earthquake  sufferers,  the  needy  Belgians,  the 
starving  Armenians,  or  the  famine-stricken  peoples 
of  India,  is  to  grow  in  charity  and  to  develop  the 
spirit  of  philanthropy  and  humanitarianisrxi.  For 
the  children  of  a  school  to  fill  baskets  Thanksgiving 
Day  or  Christmas  for  worthy  but  needy  families 
of  the  neighborhood,  or  for  the  Salvation  Army  or 
Associated  Charities  to  distribute  among  such  fami- 
lies, is  a  most  commendable  practice.  Not  the  least 
of  its  benefits  come  to  those  who  give,  for  children 
must  learn  to  give,  and  they  learn  it  best  by  giving. 
It  is  a  misfortune,  indeed,  for  a  child  to  grow  into 
manhood  or  womanhood  without  experiencing  the 
satisfaction  that  comes  from  sharing  with  another's 
need,  and  without  frequent  exercise  of  the  altruistic 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      127 

impulse  that  needs  to  become  established  as  a  habit, 
to  make  him  fit  well  into  twentieth  century  institu- 
tional life.  Our  churches,  hospitals,  benevolences, 
reform  work,  and  many  of  our  schools  are  absolutely 
dependent  upon  the  gifts  of  individuals  who  could 
easily  withhold  them  all,  as  some  people  do,  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  not  able  to  give.  The  truth 
of  it  is  that  we  have  already  entered  upon  an  era  in 
which  it  is  becoming  almost  as  disgraceful  for  all 
but  indigents  and  paupers  to  refuse  their  just  share 
of  support  to  the  social  agencies  for  betterment  of 
community  life  as  it  is  for  a  very  rich  man  to  live 
and  die  without  leaving  a  rich  legacy  to  some  insti- 
tution able  and  willing  to  use  it  for  the  amelioration 
of  social  conditions.  It  is  the  privilege  of  teachers 
to  teach  and  train  the  children  of  this  generation  so 
that  there  will  be  fewer  men  and  women  in  the  next 
without  this  viewpoint,  and  fewer  without  the  dis- 
position to  carry  their  full  share  of  the  social  load. 
The  opportune  time  for  some  of  the  most  effective 
lessons  to  this  end  is  when  people  outside  of  school 
are  responding  to  an  urgent  call  for  help  somewhere 
and  the  papers  are  treating  it  as  an  important  news 
item. 

Pestalozzi's  method  of  developing  sympathy.  — 
Pestalozzi  applied  this  principle  in  a  very  practical 
way  in  his  work.  ''  When  he  was  at  Stanz,"  says 
Quick,  "  news  arrived  of  the  destruction  of  Alt- 
dorf.  Pestalozzi  depicted  to  his  scholars  the  misery 
of  the  children  there.  '  Hundreds/  said  he,  '  are 
at  this  moment  wandering  about  as  you  were  last 
year,  without  a  home,  perhaps  without  food  or 
clothing.'  He  then  asked  them  if  they  would  not 


128    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

wish  to  receive  some  of  these  children  among  them  ? 
This,  of  course,  they  were  eager  to  do.  Pestalozzi 
then  pointed  out  the  sacrifices  it  would  involve  on 
their  part,  that  they  would  have  to  share  everything 
with  the  newcomers,  and  to  eat  less  and  work  more 
than  before.  Only  when  they  promised  to  make 
these  sacrifices  ungrudgingly  he  undertook  to  apply 
to  the  Government  that  the  children's  wish  might 
be  granted." 

A  philanthropist  quoted.  —  George  W.  Childs, 
one-time  owner  of  the  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger 
and  a  millionaire  philanthropist  who  began  his 
career  as  errand  boy  in  a  bookstore  in  Baltimore, 
enjoyed  using  his  property  to  benefit  his  fellow  men. 
"  Giving  was  a  calling  with  him,"  it  is  said.  The 
following  comment  of  his  is  therefore  especially 
significant :  "  I  believe  that  children  should  be 
educated  to  give  away  with  judgment  their  little 
all;  to  share  their  possessions  with  their  friends. 
If  they  are  trained  in  this  spirit,  it  will  always  be 
easy  for  them  to  be  generous;  if  they  are  not,  it 
will  be  more  natural  for  them  in  the  course  of  time 
to  be  mean,  and  meanness  can  grow  upon  a  man 
until  it  saps  his  soul." 

A  seventh-grade  class  and  efficiency.  — One  of  the 
best  series  of  lessons  in  a  phase  of  moral  training 
that  has  ever  come  under  the  writer's  observation 
was  made  to  center  round  the  idea  efficiency.  It  was 
in  a  class  of  seventh-grade  children  at  a  time  when 
men  and  magazines  were  still  having  much  to  say 
upon  this  subject.  After  some  informal  study  of 
the  meaning  of  the  word  as  directed  by  the  teacher, 
herself  a  good  embodiment  of  the  ideas  as  applied 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      129 

to  teaching,  the  pupils  were  directed  to  write  to  a 
number  of  business  and  professional  men  for  their 
opinion  of  the  efficient  man  in  relation  to  their  re- 
spective callings.  The  replies  of  these  men  were 
read  and  discussed  in  class.  The  fact  that  the  men 
were  prominent  in  the  community  and  that  the  pupils 
knew  many  of  them,  intensified  their  interest  in  the 
subject.  Few  children  could,  by  other  means,  have 
seen  the  relation  of  efficiency  to  fidelity,  industry, 
enthusiasm,  care,  thoroughness,  and  a  number  of 
other  virtues,  as  this  class  seemed  to  see  it.  The 
point  we  are  making  is  that  the  current  interest  in 
the  theme  outside  of  school  and  the  introduction  of 
the  views  of  non-school  men  gave  a  reality  to  the 
study  that  will  make  it  "  carry  over  "  into  life,  and 
really  shape  conduct  as  well  as  ideas.  Such,  of 
course,  is  the  ultimate  goal  of  all  moral  instruction. 
The  observance  of  special  days,  such  as  Labor 
Day,  Thanksgiving,  Memorial  Day,  Lincoln's  Birth- 
day, Washington's  Birthday  —  all  offer  additional 
opportunities  for  emphasizing  certain  lessons  that 
can  not  be  taught  so  effectively  at  other  times. 
For  example,  when  the  whole  country  is  celebrating 
Labor  Day,  with  every  line  of  business  suspended  for 
a  day,  and  with  parades,  speeches,  and  newspapers 
all  emphasizing  a  common  theme,  the  teacher  can 
not  do  better  than  give  some  time  to  the  subject. 
She  can  do  much  to  impress  upon  her  pupils  the  dig- 
nity of  labor,  the  absolute  dependence  of  society 
upon  the  workingman,  the  importance  of  various 
branches  of  labor  locally  considered,  the  advantages 
that  have  come  to  the  laboring  man  from  organiza- 
tion into  labor  unions,  the  necessity  of  preserving 


130    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

mutually  just  relations  between  employers  and  em- 
ployees, between  capital  and  labor. 

Special  lessons  taught  best  upon  special  days.  — 
The  occasion  of  a  local  strike,  or  of  one  that  threatens 
the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  whole  country  as 
did  the  recent  proposed  strike  of  locomotive  en- 
gineers, makes  it  possible  to  impress  upon  children 
the  social  and  industrial  relationships  and  the  far- 
reaching  effects  of  any  disturbance  of  these  relation- 
ships among  peoples  and  communities,  however 
widely  separated.  Whatever  the  extent  of  the  griev- 
ance or  the  justice  of  the  demands  which  lead  to  a 
strike,  innocent  people  are  made  to  suffer  by  it,  and 
teachers  ought  to  show  it. 

The  subject  is  one  which  calls  for  much  tact  and 
discretion  and  a  dispassionate,  unprejudiced  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  a  teacher,  but  it  can  be  made 
productive  of  much  good  if  she  gives  her  pupils 
even  a  rudimentary  sense  of  the  moral  values  in- 
volved. Pupils  in  the  upper  grammar  grades  are 
certainly  as  capable  of  passing  moral  judgments 
upon  such  matters  of  immediate  concern  to  them- 
selves,, their  families,  and  their  neighbors,  as  upon 
the  merits  of  the  controversy  between  the  Colonies 
and  Great  Britain  leading  to  the  Revolutionary  War, 
or  the  causes  which  rent  the  Union  and  precipitated 
the  Civil  War. 

Objections  answered.  —  Teachers  who  deal  with 
such  current  topics  will  occasionally  hear  the  ob- 
jection made  that  it  is  their  business  to  teach  the 
common  branches  better,  and  that  if  they  do  this 
well  enough  they  will  have  no  time,  nor  is  it  their 
business,  to  do  the  other  things.  Similar  objections 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS      131 

are  made  to  the  minister  who  tries  to  socialize  the 
gospel  message  and  relate  it  to  reform  movements 
of  local  interest.  Such  criticism  need  not  deter 
either  teachers  or  ministers.  Indeed,  there  is  an 
opposite  type  of  criticism  of  the  public  schools  to 
the  effect  that  their  work  takes  too  little  account 
of  the  men  and  movements  of  the  day;  that  they 
are  too  little  related  to  the  life  that  is  being  lived 
outside  of  the  schools ;  that  life  situations  must  be 
more  freely  introduced  into  the  classroom,  and 
schoolroom  classes  must  be  permitted  to  participate 
in  a  larger  way  in  the  institutional  life  of  the  present 
to  make  their  work  real,  vital,  and  effective  in  the 
education  of  children.  It  is  to  this  criticism  that 
we  shall  need  to  give  a  more  willing  ear. 

Teach  children  to  read  the  daily  papers.  —  Finally, 
it  seems  in  place  to  suggest  here  that  children  should 
be  taught  to  read  the  daily  papers  while  they  are 
still  in  the  elementary  schools.  The  habit  is  worth 
fixing.  They  should  be  taught,  too,  how  to  read 
them  without  wasting  time.  Many  schools  have 
"  current  events  "  as  a  part  of  the  history  course  in 
the  eighth  grade.  In  such  schools  it  is  common  to 
base  the  work  upon  the  weekly  appearance  of  a 
little  current-events  magazine  of  nominal  cost. 
This  is  good  but  ought  to  be  freely  supplemented 
with  appropriate  and  timely  contributions  from  daily 
papers  and  more  pretentious  magazines.  An  in- 
quiry into  the  reading  habits  of  your  pupils,  whether 
in  grades  or  high  school,  will  probably  surprise  you 
with  the  large  number  who  do  not  regularly  read 
either  daily  papers  or  magazines.  College  classes 
often  have  no  better  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on 


132    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

in  the  world,  that  is  of  significance  in  politics,  states- 
manship, philanthropy,  education,  missionary  en- 
deavor, industry,  and  social  reforms*  Surely  the 
moral  ideas,  ideals,  attitudes,  and  habits  that  are 
developed  in  connection  with  contemporary  prob- 
lems discussed  in  these  fields  are  among  the  most 
potent  with  which  the  schools  can  concern  them- 
selves. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  The  problem  in  the   schoolroom  is  that  of  making 
virtuous  conduct  attractive,  and  vicious  conduct  equally 
repellent  to  children.     Current  events  furnish  one  of  these 
opportunities.     Make  note  of  the  newspaper  items  which 
fall  under  these  two  captions,  and  introduce  them  into 
the  " general  exercise"  period  from  time  to  time.     En- 
courage appropriate  comment  from  children  themselves. 
Lead  them  to  condemn  that  which  deserves  condemna- 
tion, and  to  commend  conduct  that  deserves  to  be  com- 
mended and  emulated. 

2.  Make  clear  to  children  the  relation  between  dis- 
honesty, deception,  petty  thefts,  and  unfair  practices  in 
school  and  home,  and  the  more  notorious  cases  of  robbery, 
embezzlement,  and  fraud  reported  in  the  press  from  time 
to  time. 

3.  Find   occasion   to   commend   bravery,   daring,    and 
courage  exhibited  in  common  walks  of  life,  and  to  link 
them  with  the  similar  qualities  displayed  by  the  soldier 
in  military  service. 

4.  Encourage  the  expression  of  the  spirit  of  sacrifice 
and  service  appropriate  and   possible  to  children  when 
adults  are  finding  the  occasion  for  similar  expression. 

5.  Find  examples  of  men  in  public  life  who  dare  to  do 
their  duty  as  they  see  it,  in  spite  of  criticism  that  is  often 


THROUGH  CURRENT  EVENTS       133 

merciless.  Have  children  think  of  the  moral  courage 
required  of  one  who  has  his  motives  as  well  as  his  judg- 
ment assailed  while  he  renders  valuable  public  service. 
The  governor  of  a  state,  mayor  of  a  city,  members  of  a 
board  of  education,  or  the  president  of  the  United  States 
may  afford  an  excellent  illustration  of  this  point  at  times. 

6.  Use  current  events  to  reenforce  your  teaching  of  the 
sacred  and  binding  character  of  one's  word  —  contracts 
between  individuals,  agreements  between  employers  and 
labor  unions,  treaties  between  nations.     "His  word  is  as 
good   as  his  bond."     Show  what  makes  such  comment 
possible. 

7.  What    moral    qualities    does    Centennial    year    in 
Illinois  offer  an  especial  opportunity  to  cultivate  ?     Why  ? 
Illustrate    with    Lincoln,    Grant,    the    Jesuits,    pioneer 
history,  old  settlers. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

COE,  FANNY  E. :  Heroes  of  Everyday  Life.     Ginn  &  Co. 
JAMES,    WILLIAM:    Talks    to   Teachers   and   Students:    What 

Makes  Life  Significant.     Henry  Holt  &  Co. 
Newspapers  and  magazines  abound  in  material  of  worth. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE   MINISTRY   OF   MUSIC 

"Therefore  the  poet 

Did  feign  that  Orpheus  drew  trees,  stones,  and  floods ; 
Since  nought  so  stockish,  hard,  and  full  of  rage, 
But  music  for  the  time  doth  change  his  nature. 
The  man  that  hath  no  music  in  himself, 
Nor  is  not  moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds, 
Is  fit  for  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils ; 
The  motions  of  his  spirit  are  dull  as  night, 
And  his  affections  dark  as  Erebus  : 
Let  no  such  man  be  trusted." 

SHAKESPEARE. 

The  social  values  of  music.  —  Though  music  is 
almost  universally  taught  in  the  elementary  schools, 
it  is  still  regarded  by  many  patrons  and  not  a  few 
teachers  as  a  fad  or  frill,  a  superfluous  excrescence 
upon  the  course  of  study,  that  could  be  given  up 
without  serious  loss,  a  feature  that  need  not  be  taken 
very  seriously  by  teachers  or  pupils.  This  concep- 
tion is,  of  course,  born  of  a  failure  to  analyze  its 
merits,  and  of  ignorance  of  its  real  educative  pos- 
sibilities. The  truth  is  that  there  are  few  subjects 
in  the  ordinary  curriculum  that  may  be  made  to 
contribute  more  largely  to  the  social  and  moral 
training  of  school  children.  It  is  one  of  the  subjects 
which,  when  well  taught,  "  carries  over  "  and  func- 
tions in  their  daily  life  out  of  and  beyond  school, 

134 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  MUSIC  135 

In  the  home,  in  church  and  Sunday  school,  in  the 
social  circle,  in  lodge,  in  the  theater,  in  public 
gatherings  of  almost  every  sort,  music  has  an  im- 
portant role.  Even  if  one  be  not  expected  to  pro- 
duce it,  his  enjoyment  is  greater  if,  when  he  meets 
his  friends  in  any  of  these  relationships,  he  is  able 
to  appreciate  the  music  that  is  offered  for  his  enter- 
tainment. 

Music  the  language  of  the  emotions.  —  Music 
is  the  language  of  the  emotions.  It  is  born  of  emo- 
tion and  it  is  to  the  emotions  that  it  makes  its  dis- 
tinct appeal.  It  has  this  in  common  with  the  other 
so-called  fine  arts  —  architecture,  sculpture,  paint- 
ing, and  poetry.  There  are  instincts  within  the 
normal  human  breast  which  are  satisfied  by  rhythm, 
melody,  and  harmony,  by  a  "  concordance  of  sweet 
sounds."  Its  mission  is  to  give  pleasure.  Stripped 
of  the  ideas  which  may  accompany  it,  and  divested 
of  the  action  to  which  it  may  be  linked,  it  is  perhaps 
unmoral,  neither  moral  nor  immoral  in  its  effects. 
This  is  certainly  true  except  in  so  far  as  pleasure 
itself  is  a  wholesome  relaxation  following  the  ten- 
sion and  stress  of  most  of  the  serious  activities  of 
life.  Viewed  in  this  light,  music  must  be  acknowl- 
edged as  a  beneficent  balm  which  soothes  tired  nerves 
and  enables  one  to  gird  up  his  loins  and  take  up 
again  the  struggle  in  the  battle  of  life. 

Music  begets  sympathy  and  understanding.  — 
But  referring  once  more  to  the  fact  that  music  is  the 
language  of  the  emotions,  we  find  here  its  first  great 
moral  aspect.  It  is  universal.  It  binds  us  to- 
gether. It  transcends  nationalities  and  creeds.  It 
breaks  down  the  barriers  of  spoken  language.  We 


136    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

can  not  have  intellectual  intercourse  with  men  and 
women  speaking  an  unknown  tongue.  We  must 
learn  the  Frenchman's  language  or  he  must  learn 
ours.  We  cannot  read  Ibsen,  but  Grieg's  Peer 
Gynt  belongs  to  us  as  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
melodies  and  harmonies  of  the  musical  masters  are 
the  language  of  the  international  soul.  The  for- 
eigner's newspaper  is  an  enigma.  It  has  no  message 
for  us.  But  his  music  strikes  a  responsive  chord  in 
our  hearts,  and  we  are  one  with  him,  while  we  listen 
at  least,  regardless  of  the  language  of  his  intellect. 

Not  only  do  people  of  different  nationalities  find 
in  music  a  common  vehicle  for  the  expression  of 
their  feelings,  but  this,  in  turn,  serves  to  awaken  an 
interest  in  other  phases  of  their  mutual  life.  Sym- 
pathy and  understanding  tend  to  take  the  place 
of  the  jealousies,  ignorance,  and  intolerance  that 
may  otherwise  prevail. 

The  writer  listened  recently  to  a  great  symphony 
orchestra.  The  musicians  comprising  it  represent 
five  different  nations,  all  of  them  at  war,  on  oppos- 
ing sides.  But  whatever  their  national  differences 
these  men  have  at  least  one  thing  in  common  —  a 
great  passion  for  music.  This  is  their  common  bond, 
and  it  is  strong  enough  to  enable  them  to  live  and 
travel  together  week  after  week  in  relations  of 
amity,  respect,  and  mutual  admiration.  When  this 
great  orchestra,  facing  an  audience  of  fifteen  hundred 
American  citizens,  stands  and  plays  the  "  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  there  is  no  room  in  any  hearer's 
heart  for  hatred  of  any  one.  The  brotherhood  of 
man  is  a  realized  ideal,  for  a  little  while  at  least. 

The  writer  has  heard  a  teacher  say  of  a  group  of 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  MUSIC  137 

Welsh  children  in  her  room :  "  I  could  not  have 
cared  for  them  as  I  did  if  I  had  not  heard  them  sing. 
But  they  were  just  like  their  fathers  who  worked  in 
the  tin-plate  factory.  These  men  in  their  over- 
alls would  gather,  at  night  in  chorus  or  choir  and 
sing  like  angels  —  I  just  loved  them/' 

The  writer  can  no  more  listen  to  the  music  of 
Tschaikowsky  without  feeling  an  interest  in  the 
Russian  people  than  he  can  read  Sienkiewicz  with- 
out finding  that  Poles  and  English  after  all  have 
some  common  bonds.  Music  is  thus  the  gateway 
through  which  peoples  of  different  lands  enter  into 
still  further  communion  with  each  other. 

When  the  great  World  War  is  over,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  one  of  the  biggest  factors  that  will 
help  to  smother  the  fires  of  race  and  national  hatred 
kindled  by  it  will  be  the  music  and  musicians  of  the 
contending  nations. 

Narrowing  the  field  of  music,  and  thinking  in 
terms  of  elementary  school  children,  we  still  find 
the  songs  of  the  school  their  great  unifying  agent. 
Pupils  come  in  from  their  several  homes  with  self- 
centered  thoughts  and  interests.  A  few  minutes 
spent  in  singing  in  an  opening  exercise  unifies  them 
all.  It  begets  a  common  emotional  atmosphere 
that  works  wonders  in  a  short  time.  It  makes  co- 
operative tasks  a  possibility.  It  paves  the  way  for 
the  right  sort  of  teamwork  between  the  teacher 
and  the  class.  Indeed,  at  almost  any  time  of  day 
when  children  are  seen  to  be  growing  nervous  and 
restless,  when  the  unity  of  the  school  seems  to  be 
going  to  pieces,  when  individualism  is  becoming 
marked,  the  wise  grade  teacher  can  use  a  song  to 


138    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

pour  oil  on  troubled  waters,  and  do  infinitely  more 
with  it  to  restore  order  and  unity  than  she  can  do 
with  any  amount  of  scolding  or  fretting  or  pun- 
ishing. 

Music  and  discipline.  -  -  The  writer  has  in  mind 
a  successful  teacher  of  music  who  used  to  use  her 
piano  to  restore  amity  and  to  suppress  hostile 
demonstrations  exhibited  by  her  own  and  her  neigh- 
bor's children.  Incipient  quarrels  and  fights  can- 
not flourish  with  a  proper  musical  accompaniment. 
Music  does  have  power  to  quell  the  savage  that 
rises  at  times  in  the  bosoms  of  children  even  of  our 
best  homes. 

Music  and  patriotism.  -  -  The  relation  of  music 
to  patriotism  and  to  religious  worship  must  be 
evident  to  every  one.  The  martial  music  of  fife 
and  drum  or  the  stirring  marches  of  a  military  band 
quicken  the  pulse  and  step  of  Grand  Army  veterans 
today,  even  though  it  has  been  more  than  fifty  years 
since  the  Civil  War  closed.  Soldiers  the  world  over 
and  for  generations  have  been  able  to  subdue  fear, 
muster  courage,  and  resolutely  face  the  charge  of 
the  enemy  and  death  itself  through  the  inspiring 
influence  of  music.  More  battles  have  been  won  by 
bands  than  bullets,  if  the  truth  were  fully  stated. 
He  must  be  a  dull  clod  who  can  not  respond  with 
a  finer  patriotic  feeling  when  "  America  "  or  the 
"  Star  Spangled  Banner "  is  sung  today  than  he 
has  at  other  times.  Without  questioning  their 
loyalty  to  the  Union,  it  is  certain  that  the  people 
of  the  South  never  hear  "  Dixie  "  without  respond- 
ing to  it  with  a  feeling  of  local  pride  whose  intensity 
is  due  to  the  song  itself.  "  God  Save  the  King/' 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  MUSIC  139 

"  The  Marseillaise,"  and  the  "  Watch  on  the  Rhine  " 
have  a  corresponding  influence  upon  the  peoples  of 
Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany,  respectively. 
The  psychological  explanation  of  the  effect  of  national 
airs  and  patriotic  hymns  is  not  easy  to  state.  We 
do  not  pretend  to  know  whether  it  is  wholly  or 
partly  inherent  in  the  music,  or  whether  an  associ- 
ation of  ideas  that  have  gradually  clustered  them- 
selves about  this  sort  of  music  is  the  secret.  But 
the  fact  remains  that  patriotism  which  expresses 
itself  in  both  thought  and  action  is  intimately 
related  to  music,  and  is  in  large  measure  dependent 
upon  it. 

Music  and  worship.  —  As  for  religious  worship,  it 
is  almost  unthinkable  apart  from  music.  Our  lead- 
ing Christian  churches  today  give  a  much  bigger 
place  in  their  Sunday  morning  services  to  the  music 
of  the  organist,  choir,  and  congregation  than  to  the 
scriptural  reading,  prayer,  and  sermon  of  the  preacher. 
The  psychological  justification  for  such  a  distribu- 
tion must  be  sought,  we  may  conclude,  in  the 
relative  moral  and  religious  effects  of  these  two 
phases  of  the  service. 

Historically,  the  praise  of  the  Lord  has  involved 
music  since  the  days  of  David,  and  long  before 
him.  The  Psalms  were  written  to  sing.  Their 
metrical  arrangement  is  one  of  their  chief  charms. 
And  over  and  over  again  in  the  Psalms  do  we  find 
such  admonitions  as  these : 

"Give  thanks  unto  Jehovah  with  the  harp : 
Sing  praises  unto  him  with  the  psaltery  often  strings. 
Sing  unto  him  a  new  song : 
Play  skillfully  with  a  loud  noise/' 


140    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

It  was  true  of  old,  and  is  no  less  true  today,  that 
the  soul  was  lifted  up  in  songs  of  praise.  Happiness, 
thanksgiving,  adoration  find  their  natural  expression 
in  song ;  and  hymns  of  praise  tend  as  surely  to  be- 
get in  those  who  listen,  and  more,  perhaps,  in  those 
who  sing  them,  an  emotional  and  a  devotional 
spirit  appropriate  to  them. 

In  the  great  oratorios  and  sacred  cantatas  are 
illustrations  of  music  which  quickens  religious  un- 
derstanding and  chastens  the  spirit  as  nothing  else 
can  do.  One  who  has  heard  it  can  never  escape  the 
gracious  influence  of  Mendelssohn's  treatment  of 
the  42d  Psalm, 

"As  the  hart  pants  after  the  water  brooks, 
So  panteth  my  soul  after  thee,  O  God." 

The  effect  of  great  oratorios. —  Among  the  richest 
spiritual  experiences  the  writer  has  ever  had  were 
those  coming  from  his  small  part  in  helping  to  sing 
such  masterpieces  as  Gaul's  Holy  City,  Rossini's 
Stabat  Mater,  Mendelssohn's  Elijah  and  St.  Paul, 
and  Handel's  Messiah.  No  sermon,  no  picture 
drawn  from  Revelation,  no  product  of  anybody's 
imagination,  has  been  able  to  make  Heaven  so  al- 
luring as  an  eternal  abiding  place  as  it  was  made  by 
the  "  Hallelujah  Chorus  "  from  the  Messiah.  There 
are  few  things  that  have  come  into  my  life  from  which 
I  would  part  with  more  reluctance  than  that  heritage. 
But  the  gratifying  thought  in  this  connection  is 
that  most  children  who  embrace  the  musical  oppor- 
tunities offered  them  through  the  grades  and  high 
school  of  an  ordinary  school  system  today  may  be 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  MUSIC  141 

equipped  for  participation,  under  proper  leadership, 
in  the  singing  of  just  such  music. 

The  function  of  the  phonograph.  —  In  communities 
unable  to  render  musical  masterpieces  of  such  mag- 
nitude and  worth,  it  is  still  possible  for  children  to 
become  acquainted  with  them  and  to  profit  by  them. 
The  almost  universal  use  of  the  phonograph  brings 
them  within  easy  reach  of  every  child.  There  is  no 
longer  any  excuse  for  denying  them  to  public  school 
children.  In  rural  schools  in  which  one  teacher  must 
teach  everything  that  is  taught,  music  almost  uni- 
versally suffers  either  from  lack  of  time  or  lack  of 
ability  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  Here  it  is  es- 
pecially advisable  to  introduce  the  phonograph  and 
some  carefully  selected  records  that  will  acquaint 
the  pupils  with  the  worth-while  music  of  both  sacred 
and  secular  lines. 

Music  in  penal  institutions.  —  The  place  given  to 
music  in  reform  schools  and  penal  institutions  ought 
to  be  suggestive  to  public  school  officials.  If  it  is  a 
powerful  factor  in  the  reformation  of  character, 
can  it  be  less  useful  in  its  formation  ?  If  our  hos- 
pitals for  the  insane  find  its  tendency  in  the  direc- 
tion of  docility,  morality,  and  reason,  may  it  not  be 
equally  efficacious  for  perfectly  normal  children  ? 

The  student  of  history  may  recall  that  George 
III  of  England,  in  his  fits  of  melancholy  madness, 
was  deeply  "  sensible  of  the  power  of  music  to  create 
an  atmosphere  of  peace,  and  restore  something  like 
harmony  to  the  sweet  bells  of  the  spirit,  jangled  out 
of  tune." 

In  I  Samuel  16 :  23  it  is  written  that:  "When  the 
evil  spirit  from  God  was  upon  Saul,  then  David 


142    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

took  an  harp,  and  played  with  his  hand.  So  Saul 
was  refreshed  and  was  well,  and  the  evil  spirit  de- 
parted from  him." 

If  great  sanitariums  find  it  has  curative  effects 
upon  the  sick,  may  it  not  be  a  salutary  means  of 
preventing  ills  ? 

Danger  of  intellectualizing  music  too  much.  — 
But  even  where  music  has  a  large  place  in  the  ele- 
mentary schools,  there  is  some  danger  of  attempting 
to  intellectualize  it  too  much.  It  has  an  interesting 
science  that  has  a  place  in  the  training  of  some 
children,  but  music  as  an  art  must  come  first.  There 
ought  to  be  much  more  rote  singing  than  note  sing- 
ing in  the  lower  grades.  The  aim  should  be  to  lead 
children  to  love  good  music,  to  want  to  hear  it,  to 
desire  a  part  in  it.  This  can  no  more  result  from 
analysis  and  dissection  of  it  than  a  love  for  literature 
can  be  developed  by  such  a  process.  "  Music  should 
be  taught  in  the  schools  for  the  purpose  of  develop- 
ing good  cheer,  to  inspire  with  beautiful  sentiments, 
to  uplift,  and  to  harmonize  the  soul."  l  Simple 
folk-songs,  pretty  ballads,  the  melodies  that  were 
sung  by  our  fathers  and  mothers,  the  songs  that 
touch  responsive  chords  in  every  heart  —  these  are 
the  type  that  deserves  a  large  place  in  the  elementary 
school. 

The  schools  have  it  in  their  power  to  develop  such 
a  taste  for  good  music  that  the  cheap  and  shoddy 
ragtime  which  masquerades  under  the  name  of 
music  will  fall  into  disuse.  Surely  there  is  no  place 
in  school  for  records  of  this  sort.  Fewer  of  them 
will  be  purchased  for  the  home  as  the  taste  for  good 

1  Bolton,  Principles  of  Education,  p.  647. 


THE  MINISTRY  OF  MUSIC  143 

music  is  elevated  in  the  school.  Church  music  has 
already  been  contaminated  by  the  cheaper  modern 
perversions  of  it, to  such  an  extent  that  one  great 
and  influential  weekly  magazine  has  recently  sounded 
an  editorial  warning  against  "  religious  ragtime." 
Of  course  the  antidote  for  ragtime  in  church  or  home 
must  come  through  education.  Children  who  de- 
velop a  taste  for  the  worthwhile  in  music  can  not 
be  permanently  satisfied  by  ragtime. 

Plato  upon  the  place  of  music.  -  -  Teachers  and 
parents  would  find  it  profitable  to  become  familiar 
with  so  ancient  an  authority  as  Plato  upon  the 
place  of  music  in  the  moral  and  aesthetic  education 
of  children.  In  his  Republic,  Book  III,  occurs  this 
very  pertinent  paragraph.  It  would  be  difficult  for 
a  doctor  of  music  or  a  professor  of  ethics  to  state 
the  truth  more  helpfully : 

"We  would  not  have  our  guardians  grow  up  amid 
images  of  moral  deformity,  as  in  some  noxious  pasture, 
and  there  browse  and  feed  upon  many  a  baneful  herb 
and  flower  day  by  day,  little  by  little,  until  they  silently 

Either  a  festering  mass  of  corruption  in  their  own  soul, 
et  our  artists  rather  be  those  who  are  gifted  to  discern 
the  true  nature  of  beauty  and  grace ;  then  will  our  youth 
dwell  in  a  land  of  health,  amid  fair  sights  and  sounds ; 
and  beauty,  the  effluence  of  fair  works,  will  meet  the 
sense  like  a  breeze,  and  insensibly  draw  the  soul  even  in 
childhood  into  harmony  with  the  beauty  of  reason.  .  .  . 

"Is  not  this,  I  said,  the  reason,  Glaucon,  why  musical 
training  is  so  powerful,  because  rhythm  and  harmony 
find  their  way  into  the  secret  places  of  the  soul,  on  which 
they  mightily  fasten,  bearing  grace  in  their  movements, 
and  making  the  soul  graceful  of  him  who  is  rightly  edu- 
cated, or  ungraceful  if  ill-educated ;  and  also  because  he 


144    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

who  has  received  this  true  education  of  the  inner  being 
will  most  shrewdly  perceive  omissions  or  faults  in  art 
and  nature,  and  with  a  true  taste,  while  he  praises  and 
rejoices  over,  and  receives  into  his  soul  the  good,  and 
becomes  noble  and  good,  he  will  justly  blame  and  hate 
the  bad,  now  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  even  before  he  is 
able  to  know  the  reason  of  the  thing;  and  when  reason 
comes  he  will  recognize  and  salute  her  as  a  friend  with 
whom  his  education  has  made  him  long  familiar. 

"Yes,  he  said,  I  quite  agree  with  you  in  thinking  that 
these  are  the  reasons  why  there  should  be  a  musical 
education." 

The  psychologist's  attitude.  —  Because  music  plays 
upon  the  emotions  which  may  be  exercised  apart 
from  action,  it  has  been  objected  that  it  has  a 
weakening  and  enervating  effect  upon  character. 
The  psychologist  would  readily  admit  that  this  is 
true  when  an  emotion  is  roused  which  has  for  its 
object  the  performance  of  a  duty.  For  example, 
if  we  listen  with  excitement  to  the  details  of  the  suf- 
fering we  ^are  called  upon  to  alleviate  and  then  do 
nothing  about  it,  we  are  weaker  than  before.  We'd 
better  never  hear  the  call  for  help  from  the  Red 
Cross  society  than  to  hear  it,  feel  the  promptings  of 
our  best  impulses  to  lend  our  aid,  and  then  do  noth- 
ing about  it.  But  to  be  affected  by  a  drama,  a  novel, 
a  poem,  or  a  song  which  points  to  no  immediate 
duty  of  action,  it  has  been  well  said,  need  not  ener- 
vate us.  '  We  may  be  the  better  for  it ;  we  may  be 
the  more  likely  to  act  rightly  when  the  opportunity 
comes,  for  having  felt  rightly  when  there  was  no 
immediate  call  for  action.  A  man  is  better  for  his 
formless  aspirations  after  good." 


THE   MINISTRY  OF   MUSIC 

Music  certainly  helps  one  to  get  upon  the  Mount 
of  Transfiguration.  Reaching  such  a  height  was  not 
condemned  by  the  Great  Teacher,  but  it  was  rather 
the  suggestion  of  one  that  we  build  our  tabernacles 
and  dwell  there.  The  path  of  duty  takes  us  down 
into  the  commonplace  valley  where  men  dwell. 
But  life  in  the  valley  is  richer  and  more  significant 
to  those  about  us  when  our  natures  are  refined,  our 
passions  subdued,  our  thoughts  made  tender,  our 
souls  purged  through  the  redemptive  agency  of 
good  music.  Let  us  have  more  of  it  in  the  public 
schools,  recognizing  that  it  is  not  a  frill,  not  for  the 
aesthete  only,  and  not  to  make  musicians,  pri- 
marily, but  to  develop  musical  appreciation  and  to 
enrich  character  and  life. 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Can  you  name  any  class  of  people  whose  ability 
either  to  give  or  to  receive  pleasure  would  not  be  increased 
by  music  ?     Indicate  its  place  in  the  home,  the  church, 
the  Sunday  school,  the  lodge,  the  social  circle,  elsewhere. 

2.  Enumerate  the  so-called  fine  arts,  and  show  in  what 
respect  music  resembles  the  others. 

3.  Explain  the  meaning  of  this  sentence:    "Music  is 
the  language  of  the  international  soul."     Give  illustra- 
tions of  its  truth. 

4.  Account  for  the  presence  of  military  bands  in  the 
armies  of  the  world.     What  relation  between  music  and 
morality  is  suggested  by  the  place  given  to  music  in  the 
army  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  today  ? 

5.  Does  good  music  in  a  church  touch  the  moral  and 
religious  nature  of  the  congregation,  or  merely  contribute 
to  its  aesthetic  pleasure  ?     Justify  your  answer. 


146    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

6.  Why  is  music  given  a  place  in  hospitals,  asylums 
for  the  insane,  reformatories,  and  penitentiaries  ?     What 
suggestion  is  derived  from  this  for  schools  ? 

7.  Discuss  the  quotation  from  Plato's  Republic.     Did 
the  term  music  mean  to  Plato  just  what  we  mean  by  it 
today  ? 

8.  Under  what   conditions  may  music  have   a   detri- 
mental effect  upon  character  ? 

9.  It  is  well  known  that  certain  great  musicians  have 
had  loose  morals.     Show  that  this  is  not  to  be  used  as  an 
argument  against  the  moral  influence  of  music. 

10.  What  is  the  psychological  basis  for  music  ? 

11.  Why  does  vocal  music  have  so  much  larger  a  place 
than  instrumental  music  in  the  public  schools  ? 

12.  When  you  hear  a  boy  or  girl  whistle  or  sing  at  his 
work,  what  do  you  think  of  his  disposition  or  temporary 
mental  state  ? 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

COLE,  LUCY  K. :  Music  and  the  Social  Problem,  in  Proceedings 
N.  E.  A.  1913,  pp.  604-609. 

HAWEIS,  HUGH  REGINALD  :   Music  and  Morals.     Harpers. 

MASON,  DANIEL  GREGORY:  Music  as  an  International  Lan- 
guage, in  International  Conciliation  Pamphlet,  June,  1913. 

REYNOLDS,  ALICE  LOUISE  :  Music  that  Pays  Dividends,  in  Pro- 
ceedings N.  E.A.  1913,  pp.  609-612. 

VAN  DYKE,  HENRY:  The  Music  Lover.     Moffat,  Yard  &  Co. 

WINSHIP,  A.  E. :  Music  and  Ethics,  in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A. 
1913,  pp.  602-604. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ART  EDUCATION  AND   MORALITY 

PUBLIC  school  teachers  are  only  beginning  to 
recognize  the  big  part  which  art  in  its  broad  sense 
has  to  play  in  the  education  of  children.  Perhaps 
few  even  yet  see  very  distinctly  that  it  may  be  a 
factor  in  the  moral  training  of  boys  and  girls,  but 
its  use  to  this  end  is  easily  demonstrable,  though 
its  teaching  is  to  be  justified  upon  other  grounds 
more  important. 

Instinctive  basis  of  art.  —  Love  for  the  beautiful 
in  form  and  color  is  perhaps  instinctive.  It  is 
certainly  universal.  It  is  not  confined  to  works 
of  art  as  such,  but  is  directed  towards  the  common 
things  of  life  as  well.  Indeed,  nature  itself  furnishes 
us  the  inspiration  for  much  of  our  art,  since  symme- 
try, harmony,  balance  and  proportion  in  form  and 
arrangement,  to  say  nothing  of  beauty  in  color  of 
every  shade  and  hue,  are  exhibited  with  a  prodigality 
that  can  not  be  overlooked.  Trees,  shrubs,  grasses, 
flowers,  and  insects  —  all  are  objects  of  beauty, 
giving  pleasure  to  any  child  who  is  taught  to  open 
his  eyes  to  them.  Much  of  the  decorative  art  which 
finds  its  way  into  the  humblest  homes  as  well  as 
the  homes  of  the  rich  is  nothing  more  than  con- 
ventionalized nature  forms  —  leaf  or  flower,  vine 
or  fruit  —  applied  to  rugs,  carpets,  wall  paper, 


148    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

draperies,  cloth,  table  linen,  china,  vases,  and 
countless  other  things  bought  for  utility. 

In  the  realm  of  fine  art  landscape  paintings  figure 
prominently.  For  these  nature  must  furnish  the 
basis.  The  artist  must  be  skillful  in  his  selection 
of  a  scene  and  a  point  of  view.  He  must,  moreover, 
be  able  to  ignore  or  slight  the  natural  elements  that 
would  mar  the  beauty  of  the  whole  picture  and 
perhaps  improve  upon  nature  where  that  would 
serve  his  purpose. 

What  makes  art  education  moral.  —  Art  of  the 
sort  already  mentioned  is  perhaps  neither  moral 
nor  immoral.  It  is  simply  unmoral.  And  yet  it  is 
not  an  exaggeration  to  assert  that  a  child  who  learns 
to  appreciate  a  beautiful  picture,  even  a  landscape 
painting,  and  still  more  the  child  who  learns  to 
produce  that  which  is  beautiful  for  the  enjoyment  of 
others,  is  developing  at  least  one  phase  of  his 
morality.  It  must  be  remembered  that  morality 
is  not  a  simple  thing  but  a  complex  of  many  factors. 
Perhaps  it  is  primarily  concerned  with  such  traits 
of  character  as  honesty,  truthfulness, .  obedience, 
temperance,  etc.,  yet  among  the  duties  which  every 
one  is  called  upon  to  sustain  in  his  relationship  with 
his  fellows  is  that  of  giving  pleasure  instead  of  pain. 
Learning  to  produce  art,  therefore,  and  learning  to 
appreciate  and  enjoy  it  is  only  another  way  of  making 
life  richer,  more  significant  and  more  pleasurable 
for  those  about  us.  From  this  standpoint  all  art 
education  is  fundamentally  moral  education. 

Influence  of  the  teacher's  dress  and  personal 
appearance.  —  In  the  development  of  a  proper 
artistic  taste  in  children  the  teacher  may  well  begin 


ART  EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY  149 

by  taking  account  of  her  own  dress  and  personal 
appearance.  It  is  difficult  to  overestimate  the  effect 
of  the  teacher's  example  upon  the  lives  and  ideals  of 
children,  even  in  the  lower  grades.  She  heed  not  be 
gowned  in  the  extremest  fashions,  nor  does  she  need 
to  be  very  expensively  dressed.  But  anything  less 
than  scrupulous  cleanliness  of  person  and  dress  is 
unpardonable.  If  extravagance  and  extremes  in 
dress  are  in  bad  taste  in  the  schoolroom,  niggardliness 
and  carelessness  are  no  less  so.  The  teacher  who 
permits  her  hair  to  "  string  "  for  lack  of  pins  or 
a  shampoo,  who  fastens  her  skirt  awry,  who  knows 
not  the  wholesome  effect  upon  children  that  comes 
from  her  frequent  appearance  in  a  clean,  fresh 
shirt  waist,  or  a  bright  new  ribbon,  is  neither  teach- 
ing her  first  important  lesson  in  art  appreciation  nor 
is  she  doing  what  she  might  to  develop  in  her  pupils 
a  proper  consideration  and  respect  for  her  and  her 
authority. 

Influence  of  the  schoolroom.  —  If  the  appearance 
of  the  teacher  is  the  first  factor,  that  of  the  school- 
room itself  is  the  second  one  of  importance.  Every 
teacher  knows  that  a  child  has  more  respect  for  a 
clean  room  than  for  a  dirty  one.  It  is  relatively 
easy  to  inspire  in  children  a  proper  regard  for  a 
school  building  that  is  new,  with  new  and  attractive 
furniture  throughout.  But  every  scratch  or  line 
with  pen  or  pencil,  and  every  notch  cut  with  a  jack- 
knife  upon  seat  or  desk  invites  a  new  one.  Frazzled 
and  ragged  window  shades  hanging  athwart  the 
windows;  cheap,  dust-covered  chromos  or  last 
year's  calendars  hanging  upon  the  walls,  perhaps  out 
of  plumb ;  a  teacher's  desk  disordered  and  topsy- 


150    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

turvy  in  the  front  of  the  room ;  and  bookcases  and 
cabinets  in  confusion,  with  doors  standing  open,  are 
all  such  powerful  negative  art  influences  that  they 
go  far  towards  offsetting  whatever  good  might  come 
from  fifteen  minutes  per  day  devoted  to  drawing 
in  the  elementary  school.  The  world  is  beginning 
to  be  very  distrustful  of  any  sort  of  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  schools  that  does  not  modify  taste  and  con- 
duct outside  of  that  course.  With  this  in  mind, 
the  teacher  should  not  fail  to  recognize  that  good 
cooperative  housekeeping  in  school  is  her  first  step 
to  take  in  the  development  of  art  appreciation. 

Moral  content  of  pictures.  —  When  we  approach 
our  problem  more  closely  and  attempt  to  show  what 
the  school  can  do  for  the  child's  moral  education 
through  art  as  a  medium,  we  find  the  task  more 
difficult.  Perhaps  the  reason  is  that  much  which 
the  school  should  do  for  his  art  education  has  nothing 
to  do  with  his  moral  education.  If  beauty  is  its 
own  excuse  for  being,  and  if  "  art  for  art'-  sake  "  is 
justification  enough  for  creating  a  work  of  art,  as 
many,  perhaps  most,  critics  hold,  then  the  school 
needs  to  be  careful  not  to  defeat  the  artist's  purpose 
by  trying  to  make  his  painting  preach  an  unwarranted 
sermon  to  children.  Goethe  has  been  quoted 1  as 
saying : 

"A  good  work  of  art  can,  and  will  indeed,  have  moral 
consequences ;  but  to  require  moral  ends  of  the  artist, 
is  to  destroy  his  profession." 

Ruskin,  on  the  other  hand,  is  just  as  insistent  that 
paintings  shall  be  moral  or  religious  in  their  effects, 

1  Griggs,  The  Philosophy  of  Art,  p.  12, 


ART  EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY          151 

Disclaiming  any  critical  judgment  in  matters  of 
this  sort,  and  frankly  recognizing  that  he  is  unable 
to  reconcile  the  opposing  claims  of  two  schools  of 
art  critics,  the  writer  still  thinks  there  is  a  wealth  of 
the  painter's  art  which  has  such  obvious  moral 
value  for  children  that  it  constitutes  a  legitimate 
means  for  their  moral  instruction.  As  an  illustration 
of  possibilities  in  this  direction,  let  us  call  attention 
to  a  few  pictures  which  children  should  know. 
Whatever  else  may  constitute  the  chief  value  of 
the  following,  their  study  can  hardly  fail  to  leave  a 
distinct  moral  impression  upon  the  young  student. 

Landseer's  pictures  as  examples.  —  Landseer's 
"  Distinguished  Member  of  the  Humane  Society  " 
is  a  painting  of  a  large  Newfoundland  dog  represented 
as  a  member  of  a  life-saving  crew.  The  nobility, 
intelligence,  kindliness,  and  strength  of  the  dog  are 
all  so  well  shown  in  the  picture  that  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  it,  with  a  few  well-chosen  stories 
of  lives  actually  saved  by  Newfoundland,  St. 
Bernard,  or  other  dogs,  must  serve  to  increase  a 
child's  respect  for  this  most  faithful  friend  that  man 
has  among  the  dumb  animals.  If  kindness  to 
animals  is  a  moral  virtue  worth  cultivating  in  chil- 
dren, this  picture  of  Landseer's  offers  one  means  of 
developing  such  a  trait.  A  study  of  the  picture  as  a 
work  of  art  would  involve  some  attention  to  detail 
—  to  questions  of  motive,  arrangement,  light  and 
shade,  texture,  and  still  other  matters,  perhaps. 
But  our  point  is  this  —  and  it  applies  with  equal 
force  to  the  other  illustrations  which  follow - 
whatever  use  may  be  made  of  the  picture  from  a 
purely  artistic  standpoint,  it  has  moral  significance 


152    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

and  can  be  used  for  moral  ends  without  doing  violence 
to  its  art  side. 

"Shoeing  the  Bay  Mare  "  is  another  of  Landseer's 
well-known  paintings  admitting  of  similar  treatment. 
Indeed,  the  child  who  through  these  two  pictures 
is  led  to  a  study  of  Landseer's  own  life  will  have  one 
more  stimulus  prompting  right  treatment  of  dogs 
and  horses,  too. 

Millet's  pictures.  —  "  The  Angelas,"  "The 
Gleaners,"  "  The  First  Step,"  "  Feeding  Her  Birds," 
"  The  Sower,"  "  Shepherdess,"  and  "  Man  with 
the  Hoe  "  are  six  paintings  by  Millet,  the  famous 
French  painter  of  peasant  life  in  his  native  country. 
The  first  one  of  the  group  represents  the  simple 
piety  of  the  humble  toilers  of  the  field.  The  angelus 
bell,  rung  morning,  noon,  and  night,  is  a  call  to 
prayer.  That  its  summons  was  not  unheeded  is 
shown  by  the  reverently  bowed  heads  of  the  two 
central  figures  in  the  picture.  "  The  First  Step  " 
and  "  Feeding  Her  Birds  "  are  two  pictures  which 
immortalize  beautiful  domestic  scenes  of  great 
tenderness  and  simplicity.  The  whole  group  have 
this  in  common,  that  they  arouse  sympathy  and 
admiration  for  humble  folk  whose  patience,  courage, 
toil,  and  pathos  mark  them  as  belonging  to  the 
heroic  type  which  Millet  knew  so  well  and  of  which 
he  was  one.  But  these  qualities,  one  and  all,  are 
either  moral  or  religious,  and  their  exhibition  and 
contemplation  may  be  made  contributory,  at  least, 
to  something  of  the  same  sort  in  children  when 
presented  as  Millet  has  embodied  them. 

Rembrandt.  —  Rembrandt's  "  The  Night  Watch  " 
lends  itself  to  the  teaching  of  patriotism,  which  is 


ART  EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY  153 

the  message  the  artist  is  alleged  to  have  had  in 
mind,  though  he  was  commissioned  to  paint  merely 
a  portrait. 

Religion  in  art.  —  Turning  from  these  we  may 
mention  a  whole  group  of  famous  pictures,  every  one 
of  which  breathes  the  spirit  of  religion.  Not  to 
know  them  and  not  to  know  something  of  the  artists 
who  painted  them  is  to  confess  ignorance  of  the 
most  celebrated  paintings  and  painters  the  world  has 
known.  Their  very  titles  suggest,  without  comment, 
their  religious  themes  and  objects,  and  the  character 
of  the  teachings  they  might  reenforce.  The  list 
follows : 

Raphael's  "  Sistine  Madonna,"  and 

his  "  Transfiguration." 
Titian's  "  Assumption  of  the  Virgin." 
Michelangelo's  "  The  Last  Judgment." 
Rubens'  "  Descent  from  the  Cross." 
Murillo's  "  Immaculate  Conception." 
Correggio's  "  Holy  Night." 
Da  Vinci's  "The  Last  Supper." 

Any  class  interested  in  the  numerous  legends 
clustering  about  the  Holy  Grail,  and  the  literature 
embodying  them,  can  profit  by  the  "  Sir  Galahad," 
painted  by  Watts.  This  picture  is  justly  popular 
with  all  classes,  whether  educated  or  not.  In 
pictorial  form  it  says  just  what  Tennyson  makes 
Sir  Galahad  say, 

"My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

As  long  as  motherhood  is  held  as  sacred,  and  as 
long  as  men  are  made  better  by  cherishing  the 


154    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

memory  of  their  mothers,  Whistler's  "  Portrait  of 
the  Painter's  Mother  "  will  continue  to  have  a  moral 
value  as  a  teacher. 

Examples  need  not  be  multiplied.  The  foregoing 
are  meant  to  be  suggestive  only,  but  it  must  be 
evident  that  there  is  diversity  enough  in  the  range 
of  worth-while  art  to  make  it  possible,  at  least  by 
indirection,  to  use  art  in  such  a  way  as  to  strengthen 
both  moral  and  religious  ideas  and  ideals  in  children, 
even  though  we  concede  the  point  that  art  does  not 
exist  primarily  to  preach  a  sermon  or  point  a  moral. 

Art  for  life's  sake.  --There  is  another  view  of  art, 
or  more  accurately  stated,  another  conception  of  its 
place  in  life,  that  seems  to  be  growing  in  popularity 
recently.  In  contrast  to  the  former  phrase,  "  Art 
for  art's  sake,"  it  is  stated  as  "  Art  for  life's  sake." 
It  seems  to  involve  more  of  the  ethical  bearings  of 
art  than  was  possible  so  long  as  art  had  to  do  with 
statuary  and  paintings  for  the  cultivated  few,  to  be 
collected  in  galleries  and  museums  or  other  reposi- 
tories more  or  less  isolated  from  the  walks  of  common 
men  and  women.  It  demands  that  beauty  shall 
not  be  separate  and  apart  from  utility,  but  identified 
with  and  embodied  in  the  useful  object  in  the  making. 

In  the  schools  it  is  taking  the  form  of  a  distinct 
arts  and  crafts  movement  in  which  pottery,  jewelry, 
and  useful  articles  made  in  the  woodworking  shops 
shall  exhibit  the  artistic  side  of  the  work  not  less 
than  the  utilitarian  side.  In  the  drawing  courses 
the  tendency  is  more  and  more  to  apply  the  principles 
of  decoration  and  design  to  something  more  useful 
and  more  substantial  than  a  sheet  of  drawing  paper. 
To  this  end  the  decoration  of  toys,  of  jars,  boxes, 


ART  EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY  155 

vases,  bottles,  garments  made  in  household  arts 
courses,  etc.,  is  taking  the  place  of  the  older  types  of 
work  done  with  pencil,  charcoal,  and  water  color. 
This  it  not  quite  the  realization  of  the  doctrines  of 
such  leaders  as  Emerson,  Ruskin,  Morris,  and  Elbert 
Hubbard,  who  insisted  that  "  there  should  be  no 
artificial  combination  of  use  and  beauty,  but  the 
useful  should  be  created  as  art."  It  is,  however,  a 
long  step  in  that  direction. 

Ruskin's  view.  —  In  a  series  of  lectures  on  art 
delivered  by  Ruskin  before  the  University  of  Oxford 
in  1870,  he  stated  that  the  great  arts  "  can  have  but 
three  principal  directions  of  purpose ;  first,  that  of 
enforcing  the  religion  of  men  ;  second,  that  of  perfect- 
ing their  ethical  state;  third,  that  of  doing  them 
material  service."  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the 
first  two  purposes  he  stated,  there  are  abundant 
signs  that  his  third  purpose  is  being  accepted  very 
generally  today. 

As  we  look  about  us  and  note  the  new  applied 
forms  of  art  today ;  the  growing  interest  in  a  more 
beautiful  architecture,  even  for  houses  for  residence ; 
the  increased  attention  which  is  given  to  city 

Planning,  to  landscape  gardening,  to  use  of  shrub- 
ery  for  artistic  effect  about  our  individual  houses, 
and  to  the  multiplied  attempts  to  lessen  the  amount 
of  ugliness  in  the  surroundings  of  the  masses  of  the 
people,  where  they  live  and  where  they  work:  we 
can  not  but  be  hopeful,  even  if  changes  are  coming 
very  slowly.  Ruskin's  writings  in  the  Stones  0} 
Venice  and  Seven  Lamps  of  Architecture,  to  say 
nothing  of  his  numerous  lectures,  are  beginning  to 
have  some  influence  upon  our  beliefs  and  practices, 


156    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

even  here  and  now.  Some  of  his  teachings  of  a  half 
century  ago  laid  down  lines  along  which  we  shall 
doubtless  make  more  rapid  advance  in  the  near 
future.  Among  the  most  pertinent  of  them,  I 
quote  the  following : 

"Giving  brightness  to  pictures  is  much,  but  giving 
brightness  to  life  more.  .  .  .  To  get  your  country  clean, 
and  your  people  lovely;  ...  I  assure  you  that  is  a 
necessary  work  of  art  to  begin  with.  .  .  .  There  has 
indeed  been  art  in  countries  where  people  lived  in  dirt 
to  serve  God,  but  never  in  countries  where  people  lived 
in  dirt  to  serve  the  devil.  ...  All  the  arts  are  founded 
on  agriculture  by  the  hand,  and  on  the  graces,  and  kind- 
ness of  feeding  and  dressing,  and  lodging  your  people. 
Greek  art  begins  in  the  gardens  of  Alcinous  —  perfect 
order,  leeks  in  beds,  and  fountains  in  pipes.  And  Chris- 
tian art,  as  it  arose  out  of  chivalry,  was  only  possible  so 
far  as  chivalry  compelled  both  kings  and  knights  to  care 
for  the  right  personal  training  of  their  people.  .  .  . 
From  highest  to  lowest,  health  of  art  has  first  depended 
on  reference  to  industrial  use.  There  is  first  the  need  of 
cup  ...  to  drink  from.  And  to  hold  it  conveniently, 
you  must  put  a  handle  to  it;  and  to  fill  it  when  it  is 
empty  you  must  have  a  large  pitcher  of  some  sort ;  and 
to  carry  the  pitcher  you  may  most  advisably  have  two 
handles.  Modify  the  forms  of  these  needful  possessions 
according  to  the  various  requirements  of  drinking  largely 
and  drinking  delicately ;  of  pouring  easily  out,  or  of  keep- 
ing for  years  the  perfume  in ;  of  storing  in  cellars,  or 
bearing  from  fountains,  —  and  you  have  a  resultant 
series  of  beautiful  form  and  decoration,  from  the  rude 
amphora  of  red  earth  up  to  Cellini's  vases  of  gems  and 
crystal,  in  which  series  .  .  .  are  developed  the  most 
beautiful  lines  and  most  perfect  types  of  severe  composi- 
tion which  have  yet  been  attained  by  art.  .  .  .  After 


ART  EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY          157 

recovering  for  the  poor,  wholesomeness  of  food,  your  next 
step  towards  founding  schools  of  art  .  .  .  must  be  in 
recovering,  for  the  poor,  decency  and  wholesomeness  of 
dress ;  thoroughly  good  in  substance,  fitted  for  their 
daily  work,  becoming  to  their  rank  in  life,  and  worn  with 
order  and  dignity. 

"Men  must  desire  to  have  their  dwelling  places  built 
as  strongly  as  possible,  and  furnished  and  decorated 
daintily,  and  set  in  pleasant  places,  in  bright  light  and 
good  air.  .  .  .  And  when  the  houses  are  grouped  to- 
gether in  cities,  men  must  have  so  much  civic  fellowship 
as  to  subject  their  architecture  to  a  common  law,  and  so 
much  pride  as  to  desire  that  the  whole  gathered  group  of 
human  dwellings  should  be  a  lovely  thing,  not  a  frightful 
one,  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  ...  It  is  not  possible  to 
have  any  right  morality,  happiness,  or  art  in  any  country 
where  the  cities  are  .  .  .  clotted  and  coagulated ;  spots 
of  a  dreadful  mildew  spreading  by  patches  and  blotches 
over  the  country  they  consume.  .  .  . 

"The  fine  arts  are  not  to  be  learned  by  Locomotion, 
but  by  making  the  homes  we  live  in  lovely,  and  by  stay- 
ing in  them ;  —  the  fine  arts  are  not  to  be  learned  by 
Competition,  but  by  doing  our  quiet  best  in  our  own 
way ;  —  the  fine  arts  are  not  to  be  learned  by  Exhibition, 
but  by  doing  what  is  right,  and  making  what  is  honest, 
whether  it  be  exhibited  or  not ;  —  and,  for  the  sum  of  all, 
that  men  must  paint  and  build  neither  for  pride  nor  for 
money,  but  for  love ;  for  love  of  their  art,  for  love  of  their 
neighbor,  and  whatever  better  love  may  be  than  these 
founded  on  these." 

Caffin's  view.  —  In  a  recent  book  1  the  writer  has 
one  chapter  entitled  "  The  World's  Need  of  Art  " 
beginning,  "  This  book,  I  hope,  will  make  it  clear 


Charles  H.  Caffin,  Art  for  Life's  Sake. 


158    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

that  Art  is  essential  to  life;  that  without  it  we 
can  not  conceive  of  Human  Betterment."  But  he 
deplores  the  "  arbitrary  discrimination  between 
artist  and  artistic  craftsman/5  saying  that  it  is  "  time 
that  we  freed  ourselves  from  the  cant  of  such  dis- 
criminations. Other  people  are  estimated  according 
to  their  efficiency.  Let  us  apply  the  same  test  to 
artists  and  recognize  that  an  indifferent  artist  is 
nothing  like  as  estimable,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
his  output,  as,  for  example,  an  efficient  plumber." 
He  suggests  that  we  embrace  in  the  term  "  artist," 
"  Any  worker  in  any  art  whatsoever,  whose  motive 
is  to  increase  the  Beauty  of  Life  and  Living  and 
whose  efficiency  in  his  particular  art  is  such  that  he 
'  delivers  the  goods.'  } 

Griggs  and  the  service  of  art.  —  Griggs  closes  his 
Philosophy  of  Art  with  a  kindred  thought  expressed 
as  follows : 

"The  service  of  art  to  the  human  spirit  is  not  limited 
to  the  few,  but  is  universal  for  all.  Every  one  ought  to 
be,  not  only  a  loving  and  appreciative  student  of  the 
fine  arts,  but  a  creative  artist  in  the  form  and  color,  the 
melody  and  harmony  of  life ;  and  for  student  and  artist 
alike,  art  is  not  for  adornment's  sake,  or  preaching's  sake, 
or  pleasure's  sake,  not  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  the  senses 
or  exhibiting  technical  skill,  not  art  for  art's  sake,  but  for 
lifis  sake." 

Longfellow  taught  the  same  lesson  in  the  following 
stanzas  from  "  The  Builders  "  : 

"In  the  elder  days  of  Art 

Builders  wrought  with  greatest  care 
Each  minute  and  unseen  part ; 
For  the  Gods  see  everywhere. 


ART   EDUCATION  AND  MORALITY  159 

"Let  us  do  our  work  as  well, 

Both  the  unseen  and  the  seen ; 
Make  the  house,  where  Gods  may  dwell, 
Beautiful,  entire,  and  clean." 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Upon  what   grounds   do  you  justify  drawing   and 
painting  in  the  public  schools  ?     In  what  sense  is  fine 
art  essentially  unselfish  ? 

2.  Show  how  it  is  possible  to  make  a  child's  love  for 
the  beautiful  "carry  over"  into  respect  for  property. 

3.  Discuss  the  paragraph  in  the  chapter  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  influence  of  the  teacher's  dress  upon  children. 

4.  Find    and    report    pictures    not    mentioned    in    the 
chapter  having  values  distinctly  moral.     How  can  they 
be  used  most  effectively  for  moral  ends  ? 

5.  Distinguish  between  "Art  for  art's  sake"  and  "Art 
for  life's  sake."     Which  of  these  views  should  have  the 
larger  place  in  the  art  work  of  the  schools  ?     Why  ? 

6.  Consider  the  relative  values  of  different  uses  that 
may  be  made  of  pictures  in  the  schoolroom ;     analysis 
and  study  as  a  part  of  the  language  work ;    exhibitions  of 
traveling  exhibits ;  well-chosen  pictures  hung  permanently 
in  the  schoolroom ;  classes  conducted  to  art  institutes  and 
museums  ;   lectures  upon  masterpieces  of  art. 

7.  What   should   be  your   attitude   toward   the   pupil 
who  loves  to  draw  or  paint  when  he  does  not  have  his 
arithmetic  or  geography  lesson  ? 

8.  Think  of  the  picture  or  pictures  that  have  made  the 
most  marked  impression  upon  you,  and  account  for  their 
influence  if  you  can. 

9.  Is  there  any  moral  influence  in  flowers,  shrubs,  and 
well-ordered  lawns  and  gardens,  clean  alleys,  and  attrac- 
tive surroundings  ?     Does  beauty  in  art  and  nature  tend 


160    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

to  translate  itself  into  beauty  of  character  and  conduct, 
or  is  this  assumption  a  mere  figment  of  imagination  ? 

10.  What  is  the  excuse  for  setting  up  in  public  places 
the  statues  of  such  men  as  Lincoln,  Washington,  Lafayette, 
or«other  great  characters  ? 

11.  Why  does  one  branch  of  the  Christian  church  make 
such  liberal  use  of  pictures,  images,  and  statues  ? 

12.  Distinguish  between  artist  and  artisan. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

CAFFIN,  C.  H. :  Art  for  Life's  Sake.    Prang  Educational  Co. 
CASEY,  WILLIAM  C. :  Masterpieces  in  Art.     A.  Flanagan  &  Co. 
GRIGGS,   EDWARD   HOWARD  :  The  Philosophy  of  Art.     B.  W. 

Huebsch. 
VAN  DYKE,  J.  C. :  Meaning  of  Pictures.     Scribner's. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MORAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    THROUGH 
NATURE   STUDY  AND   SCIENCE 

"Nature,  the  vicar  of  the  almightie  Lord." 

CHAUCER,  Assembly  of  Foules. 

"'Tis  Elder  Scripture,  writ  by  God's  own  hand  : 
Scripture  authentic  !     Uncorrupt  by  man." 

DR.  E.  YOUNG,  Night  Thoughts,  Night  IX. 

"How  desolate  were  nature,  and  how  void 
Of  every  charm,  how  like  a  naked  waste 
Of  Africa,  were  not  a  present  God 
Beheld  employing,  in  its  various  scenes, 
His  active  might  to  animate  and  adorn." 

CARLOS  WILCOX,  God  Everywhere  in  Nature. 

"The  groves  were  God's  first  temples.     Ere  man  learned 
To  hew  the  shaft,  and  lay  the  architrave, 
And  spread  the  roof  above  them,  —  ere  he  framed 
The  lofty  vault,  to  gather  and  roll  back 
The  sound  of  anthems ;   in  the  darkling  wood, 
Amidst  the  cool  and  silence,  he  knelt  down, 
And  offered  to  the  Mightiest  solemn  thanks 
And  supplication.     For  his  simple  heart 
Might  not  resist  the  sacred  influences 
Which,  from  the  stilly  twilight  of  the  place, 
And  from  the  gray  old  trunks  that  high  in  heaven 

161 


1 62    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Mingled  their  mossy  boughs,  and  from  the  sound 
Of  the  invisible  breath  that  swayed  at  once 
All  their  green  tops,  stole  over  him,  and  bowed 
His  spirit  with  the  thought  of  boundless  power 
And  inaccessible  majesty." 

WILLIAM  CULLEN  BRYANT,  A  Forest  Hymn. 

The  moral  aim  not  the  chief  aim.  —  There  are,  of 
course,  better  and  more  direct  ways  of  teaching  a 
child  religion,  and  of  training  him  in  the  religious 
life,  than  through  the  avenue  of  nature  study  and 
science,  but  this  is  one  legitimate  way.  There  are 
more  weighty  reasons  for  teaching  this  subject  than 
to  teach  either  moral  or  religious  truths,  but  this  is 
one  reason.  Certainly  the  intellectual  satisfaction 
that  comes  from  understanding  the  secrets  of  nature, 
and  the  practical  use  to  which  much  of  this  knowl- 
edge can  be  put,  constitute  the  larger  excuse  for  its 
study.  But  some  of  the  greatest  nature  lovers,  and 
some  of  its  best  interpreters,  have  been  able  to 
invest  it  with  moral,  and  even  with  religious,  idealism 
that  is  at  least  a  wholesome  thing  for  young  students 
to  know.  Bryant  and  Wordsworth,  for  example, 
may  well  be  studied  in  connection  with  nature  study 
courses,  for  their  spiritual  interpretations  need  not 
detract  from  any  purely  scientific  approaches  to  the 
subject,  while  their  intense  love  for  nature  may  be 
expected  to  kindle  some  of  the  same  sort  of  feeling 
for  it  in  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  young  student 
coming  into  first-hand  contact  with  it.  Love  for 
an  object  often  follows  an  understanding  of  it, 
but  more  often  it  happens  that  love  precedes  and 
lights  the  way,  making  a  more  accurate  under- 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    163 

standing  possible  later  on.  If  some  one  is  ready  to 
object  that  love  is  blind,  he  must  at  least  admit  that 
prejudice,  and  indifference,  and  hate  are  not  less  so, 
whether  considered  in  relation  to  nature  or  to  men 
and  women.  The  best  guarantee  that  a  child  will 
come  to  understand  and  know  nature  is  for  him  first 
to  love  it.  Then  he  will  be  ready  to  listen  to  its 
message  and  to  hear  its  voice.  Some  teachers  will 
agree  with  Wordsworth  that  : 

"One  impulse  from  a  vernal  wood 
May  teach  you  more  of  man, 
Of  moral  evil  and  of  good, 
Than  all  the  sages  can." 

But  if  one  can  not  subscribe  to  this  statement,  he 
will  at  least  admit  that  there  are  some  moral  and 
religious  values  that  may  result  from  it  —  values 
inherent  in  the  subject  as  well  as  the  teacher  who 
teaches  it. 

If  it  fails  in  any  individual  case  to  result  in  such 
training,  the  explanation  is  to  be  sought  in  the  mis- 
placed emphasis  in  the  course,  or  in  the  character 
of  the  teacher. 

Reflex  influence  of  their  study  upon  scientists.  — 
It  is  worthy  of  note  that  most  great  naturalists  and 
scientists  have  through  their  studies  increased,  if 
they  did  not  induce,  their  belief  in  God  as  the  Creator 
of  the  Universe.  This  is  not  a  world  of  accident  and 
chance,  and  any  serious  study  of  its  phenomena  is 
likely  to  lead  one  to  a  reverent  recognition  that  it 
can  not  be  accounted  for  without  God.  While  there 
is  not  the  opportunity  in  the  public  schools  for  a 
study  of  the  profound  aspects  of  nature  and  science, 


164    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

such  as  demand  an  explanation  of  first  causes  in 
the  sense  that  philosophy  inquires  after  them,  yet 
even  the  superficial  and  fragmentary  studies  appro- 
priate to  children  may  be  made  to  show  nature  as 
one  of  the  revelations  of  God.  What  the  psalmist 
was  able  to  declare  three  thousand  years  ago,  children 
ought  to  be  led  to  see  today  —  that  "  the  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  showeth 
his  handiwork."  But  grass  and  flowers,  birds  and 
trees,  rivers  and  hills,  and  all  else  under  and  around 
us  make  the  same  sort  of  declaration  and  show  the 
presence  of  the  same  hand. 

Huxley  quoted.  —  Spencer  quotes  Professor  Hux- 
ley approvingly  as  saying  at  the  close  of  a  course 
of  lectures  that:  "  True  science  and  true  religion 
are  twin-sisters,  and  the  separation  of  either  from 
the  other  is  sure  to  prove  the  death  of  both.  Science 
prospers  exactly  in  proportion  as  it  is  religious ;  and 
religion  flourishes  in  exact  proportion  to  the  scientific 
depth  and  firmness  of  its  basis.  The  great  deeds  of 
philosophers  have  been  less  the  fruit  of  their  intellect 
than  of  the  direction  of  that  intellect  by  an  eminently 
religious  tone  of  mind.  Truth  has  yielded  herself 
rather  to  their  patience,  their  love,  their  single- 
heartedness,  and  their  self-denial,  than  to  their 
logical  acumen." 

Nature  study  in  relation  to  relaxation  and  pleasure. 
—  One  indirect  gain  nature  study  offers  in  company 
with  many  other  subjects  is  that  a  love  for  any 
phase  of  nature  kindled  in  childhood  gives  direction 
to  the  pleasures  and  recreations  of  later  life.  A 
passion  for  the  study  of  butterflies,  beetles,  flowers, 
stars,  rocks,  shells,  trees,  or  anything  else  that  may 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE     165 

be  taken  up  as  an  avocation  or  a  hobby  for  one's 
leisure,  is  a  reasonable  guarantee  that  unworthy 
degrading  pleasures  are  not  to  have  a  very  prominent 
place  in  one's  life.  There  is  more  hope  for  a  healthy 
morality  in  the  child  who,  like  Jaques, 

"Finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything," 

than  for  the  child  of  whom  it  can  be  said,  as  Words- 
worth said  of  Peter  Bell, 

"A  primrose  by  a  river's  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him, 
And  it  was  nothing  more." 

Tennyson  holds  up  an  ideal  that  is  worthy  of 
presentation  to  a  class  in  nature  study,  when  he 
writes : 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall, 
I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies, 
I  hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower  —  but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

Specific  results :  Regard  for  truth.  —  If  we  ask 
for  the  specific  results  of  scientific  study  it  is  not 
difficult  to  find  some  of  them  that  are  distinctly 
moral  in  their  nature.  One  of  them  is  a  higher  regard 
for  truth.  The  scientist  more  than  most  men  learns 
to  make  his  words  tally  with  the  facts  with  which  he 
deals.  Guessing,  exaggeration  of  statement,  un- 
warranted use  of  superlatives,  hasty  generalizations, 
substitution  of  imaginative  for  perceptual  and 


1 66    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

judicial  thinking,  are  all  unscientific.  A  pupil's 
tendency  in  any  of  these  directions  is  at  least  par- 
tially overcome  by  a  study  of  science  if  the  teacher 
is  worthy  of  her  place.  The  scientific  spirit  is  an 
attitude  of  mind  which  can  be  fully  satisfied  with 
nothing  less  than  truth.  It  is  an  attitude  which 
tends  to  lessen  the  friction  between  man  and  man 
in  all  their  mutual  relations.  Where  this  spirit 
prevails  men  govern  their  conduct,  not  in  the  light 
of  prejudice  or  whim  or  desire,  but  in  the  light  of 
facts  as  they  are.  They  become  less  dogmatic  and 
more  tolerant.  They  tend  to  suspend  judgment 
until  the  evidence  is  in.  They  learn  to  be  modest 
in  their  assertions,  knowing  that  fuller  knowledge 
may  change  their  beliefs.  They  are  readier  to  con- 
cede the  possibility  of  their  being  in  error  because 
they  know  so  well  that  another  may  be  in  possession 
of  a  portion  of  the  truth  which  they  do  not  have. 
The  scientific  spirit  leaves  no  room  for  bigotry,  and 
its  cultivation,  therefore,  makes  men  more  congenial 
and  more  lovable  as  companions. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  poet  has  admonished  us  to 
"  tear  away  the  blinds  of  superstition "  and  to 
"  sweep  down  the  cobwebs  of  worn-out  beliefs," 
and  to  throw  our  souls  wide  open  to  the  light  of 
reason  and  of  knowledge,  and  further  to 

"  Be  not  afraid  to  thrust  aside  half-truths  and  grasp  the 
whole." 

The  whole  history  of  the  study  of  science  is  a 
record  of  just  such  advance  towards  the  freedom 
that  only  truth  can  give.  There  is  no  bondage  worse 
than  the  bondage  of  ignorance  and  superstition. 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    167 

No  wonder,  therefore,  the  Great  Teacher  said, 
"  And  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free/' 

Accuracy  and  fidelity.  —  A  second  moral  result 
from  the  study  of  nature  and  science  is  accuracy 
of  observation  and  fidelity  in  reporting  the  thing 
observed.  To  be  sure  this  is  an  intellectual  achieve- 
ment, but  one  with  a  moral  side  to  it.  Perhaps  no 
subject,  unless  it  is  mathematics,  tends  so  to  develop 
this  trait  in  a  student.  Indeed,  one's  progress  in 
science  is  almost  wholly  determined  by  his  growing 
ability  to  observe  and  record  with  painstaking  care. 
This  accomplishment  is  a  necessary  prerequisite  for 
the  generalizations  which  find  expression  in  the 
principles  and  laws  which  scientists  have  announced 
from  time  to  time.  Great  scientists,  therefore, 
have  all  been  men  who  see,  see  minutely,  observe 
details,  record  with  accuracy,  and  report  faithfully 
and  with  great  exactness.  Such  a  trait  is  of  in- 
estimable value  in  enabling  men  to  articulate  with 
each  other  without  friction  in  social  relationships. 
In  courts  of  law,  in  performing  one's  part  in  a 
contract,  in  fulfilling  any  promise,  in  serving  as  a 
witness  in  court,  in  multitudinous  situations,  indeed, 
one  is  able  to  serve  himself  and  to  serve  society  well 
to  the  degree  to  which  he  has  cultivated  this  faculty. 

Nature  study  and  health.  —  In  so  far  as  nature 
study  has  meant  a  real  first-hand  study  of  nature  in 
field  and  wood  or  other  excursion  in  the  great  out- 
of-doors,  it  has  promoted  morals  through  the  pro- 
motion of  health  and  a  better  physique,  in  much  the 
same  way  that  play  does  it.  There  is  general 
agreement  that  walking  is  one  of  the  best  forms  of 


1 68    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

physical  exercise.  There  are  but  few  muscles  not 
called  into  use  by  it.  In  nature  study  excursions 
this  exercise  is  combined  with  fresh  air,  sunshine, 
and  an  active,  interested  mind.  The  combination 
gives  the  basis,  at  least,  for  the  sort  of  morality 
discussed  in  the  chapter  on  play. 

Humane  spirit.  —  When  the  study  has  for  its 
object  an  acquaintance  with  the  life  and  habits  of 
some  animal  in  its  own  environment,  and  when 
it  substitutes  the  use  of  a  camera  for  that  of  a  gun, 
a  further  good  is  being  achieved  in  the  cultivation  of 
a  humane  spirit  that  must  underlie  a  proper  ex- 
hibition of  morality.  The  child  who  learns  to 
respect  life,  and  not  to  cause  unnecessary  suffering, 
even  to  a  toad,  is  making  progress  towards  living 
in  right  relations  with  his  fellow  man.  The  sub- 
stitution of  an  interest  in  animal  life  from  the  stand- 
point of  a  student  and  a  critical  observer,  is  one  of 
the  safeguards  against  the  tendency  of  boys  to  get 
their  sport  from  a  dog's  distress  when  he  runs  with  a 
tin  can  tied  to  his  tail,  or  from  the  terrors  of  a  cat 
that  has  been  attacked  by  a  dog  urged  on  by  thought- 
less or  cruel  boys.  It  is  one  of  the  privileges  of  the 
teacher  to  teach  the  truth  stated  by  Coleridge  that: 

"He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all."  l 

Closely  akin  to  the  foregoing  is  a  certain  in- 
dependence of  character  that  results  from  a  study  of 
things  in  nature  study  and  science.  Most  teachers 

1  "  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner." 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    169 

have  observed  what  Spencer  long  ago  remarked 
concerning  the  study  of  languages,  that  the  exclusive 
study  of  books  tends  to  increase  to  undue  proportions 
the  respect  for  authority.  One  of  the  present-day 
aims  in  teaching  pupils  how  to  study  is  to  make 
them  independent  in  their  thinking;  to  lead  them 
to  form  conclusions  of  their  own ;  to  enable  them  to 
see  that  books  and  writers  are  not  infallible;  and 
that  submission  to  dogmatic  assertions  is  not  the 
mark  of  an  independent  mind.  Every  excursion 
into  science;  every  attempt  to  learn  something  in 
nature  from  first-hand  observation  and  experiment, 
offers  an  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  the  in- 
dividual's judgment.  Pupils  may  think  out  their 
own  conclusions.  They  may  test  them  when  formed, 
through  application  to  other  data  or  phenomena. 
They  learn  to  stand  upon  their  own  feet,  and  to 
use  their  own  reasoning  powers.  Of  course,  books 
permit  this  sort  of  study,  but  their  use  to  such  ends 
is  fraught  with  greater  difficulty. 

Independence  of  character.  —  It  is  the  peculiar 
merit  of  science  that  it  tends  to  develop  independent 
thinking  in  a  high  degree.  "  There  is,"  says  Jordan, 
"  the  greatest  moral  value  as  well  as  intellectual  value 
in  the  independence  that  comes  from  knowing  and 
knowing  that  one  knows,  and  knowing  why  he  knows." 

Respect  for  law  and  order. --The  discovery  of 
natural  law  and  of  nature's  obedience  to  her  laws 
is  a  discovery  of  moral  worth  to  children.  The 
regularity  with  which  day  and  night  alternate,  the 
seasons  succeed  each  other,  and  the  tides  ebb  and 
flow ;  the  constancy  with  which  principles  of  gravity, 
cohesion,  and  capillarity  are  exhibited ;  the  depend- 


170    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

ability  of  nature  in  always  behaving  so-and-so  under 
given  conditions  —  all  are  good  antidotes  for  a 
tendency  on  the  part  of  the  young  to  act  from  caprice, 
and  without  due  regard  for  law  and  order.  It  is  a 
valuable  lesson  to  learn  that  this  is  an  orderly  uni- 
verse, and  that  men  can  live  more  happily  in  social 
relationships  as  they  come  to  be  dependable  and 
constant  in  something  of  the  same  fashion  that 
nature  is.  In  the  laboratory  the  immutability  of 
nature's  laws  is  an  effective  rebuke'of  the  carelessness 
and  inaccuracy  of  the  student.  Before  he  learns  how 
reliable  nature  is,  a  child  will  frequently  try  to 
deceive  his  teacher,  telling  him  that  he  followed 
instructions  exactly,  and  yet  got  an  unexpected 
result.  Later  he  learns,  and  he  knows  that  his 
teacher  knows,  that  if  his  results  are  surprising, 
he  has  not  followed  instructions  with  scrupulous 
care.  His  failure  to  get  desired  results  is  his  own 
condemnation  and  must  be  so  understood. 

Appreciation  of  economic  values.  —  In  recent 
years  there  has  been  a  decided  swing  of  the  pendulum 
away  from  the  sentimental  aspects  of  nature  study, 
and  from  the  aimless  attempts  of  teachers  to  have 
children  merely  observe  and  name  and  catalogue 
various  natural  objects.  In  harmony  with  the 
larger  tendency  to  make  all  education  serve  some 
useful  purpose  in  life,  nature  study  is  becoming 
practical.  Its  economic  side  is  being  studied  as 
never  before.  This  change,  however,  serves  to 
increase  the  interest  of  most  students  in  the  subject, 
and  to  reveal  the  moral  bearing  of  many  of  its 
phases  at  the  same  time.  To  the  boy  who  sees  in  a 
bird  only  something  to  kill,  or  in  a  bird's  nest  some- 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    171 

thing  to  rob,  it  is  a  revelation  to  learn  of  the  economic 
value  of  birds  because  of  their  capacity  to  devour 
insects  that  are  known  to  be  the  enemies  of  man. 
A  study  of  birds  becomes  a  study  of  man's  friends, 
and  their  protection  a  matter  of  moral  significance 
because  it  means  the  promotion  of  the  social  good. 
Bird  study  may  well  include  an  observation  of  the 
birds  common  to  a  given  locality,  their  migrations, 
their  nesting  habits,  their  natural  enemies,  their 
food,  etc.  Bulletins  published  by  the  government 
tell  of  crop  losses  aggregating  incredible  millions  of 
dollars  annually  —  losses  that  might  be  prevented 
by  encouraging  the  presence  of  birds  that  would 
feed  upon  the  insects  responsible  for  these  losses. 

In  the  "  Birds  of  Killingworth,"  Longfellow  has 
made  the  Poet's  Tale  tell  the  tragic  fate  of  a  village 
which  decided  to  kill  the  birds  because  they 

"Levied  blackmail  upon  the  garden  beds 
And  cornfields." 

The  Preceptor  made  an  eloquent  plea  for  them,  but 
in  vain.  The  dreadful  massacre  began,  and  ended 
in  a  "  very  St.  Bartholomew  of  Birds."  Summer 
came,  and  all  the  birds  were  dead ; 

".  .  .  in  the  orchards  fed 

Myriads  of  caterpillars,  and  around 
The  cultivated  fields  and  garden  beds 

Hosts  of  devouring  insects  crawled,  and  found 
No  foe  to  check  their  march,  till  they  had  made 
The  land  a  desert  without  leaf  or  shade." 

What  Longfellow  here  teaches  in  poetic  prophecy, 
the  naturalist  now  tells  as  a  prosaic  fact.  The 


172    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Audubon  societies  are  therefore  trying  everywhere 
to  get  children  to  become  acquainted  with  birds,  to 
see  their  aesthetic  values,  to  befriend  them,  and 
to  understand  the  large  service  they  render  to  man- 
kind in  their  power  to  destroy  the  insect  life  which 
would  so  easily  become  a  real  menace  to  man  but 
for  their  presence. 

It  has  been  estimated  that  every  toad  in  a  garden 
is  worth  more  than  eighteen  dollars  per  annum  to  a 
farmer  or  gardener  as  a  destroyer  of  insects.  If  the 
ancient  stories  about  the  jewel  he  wears  in  his  head 
are  all  myths,  there  is  still  abundant  reason  for  an 
interest  in  the  toad's  marvelous  eye,  and  in  his  life 
history  and  habits  in  general,  since  it  has  been  de- 
monstrated that  he  is  such  a  valuable  friend  of  man. 

But  it  is  not  toads  and  birds  alone  that  can  be 
rated  as  friends  of  man,  and  objects  of  study  worthy 
of  a  place  in  a  nature  study  course.  Angleworms 
as  instruments  for  increasing  the  porosity  of  soil; 
bees  as  a  medium  for  the  pollination  and  fertiliza- 
tion of  flowers  and  fruits ;  clover  and  vetch  and  peas 
as  laboratories  for  converting  the  nitrogen  of  the 
air  into  nitrates  that  will  enrich  our  fields ;  coal  that 
stores  up  the  sun's  rays  of  a  hundred  years  and  holds 
them  in  the  form  of  latent  heat  for  untold  thousands 
of  years  to  give  them  up  again  as  man  needs  them 
for  heat  and  power ;  vegetables  for  his  food ;  trees 
and  rocks  and  iron  for  his  houses,  his  machinery,  his 
furniture,  and  his  other  comforts,  tools,  and  con- 
veniences; gold  and  silver  for  his  coin;  water  for 
his  very  life  itself — these  and  a  thousand  other 
things  can  be  studied  in  relation  to  man  and  his 
needs  in  civilized  society.  There  are  uses  of  every 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    173 

one  that  are  distinctly  moral.  There  are  other  uses 
just  as  plainly  immoral.  Any  study  of  things  in 
nature  that  aids  the  young  student  to  become 
interested  in  the  proper  use  and  to  refrain  from  the 
abuse  of  them  is  achieving  a  moral  purpose.  The 
conservation  of  our  natural  resources  is  a  moral 
obligation  resting  upon  us.  Every  bit  of  science 
which  aids  us  in  achieving  this  result,  every  scientific 
discovery  and  every  application  of  the  truths  of 
science,  which  enable  man  to  subdue  nature  for  the 
social  good,  may  rightly  be  regarded  as  possessed 
of  moral  significance. 

Relation  to  medicine,  etc.  —  The  scientific  studies 
carried  on  in  the  agricultural  schools  and  experiment 
stations  of  the  country  are  designed  to  make  it 
easier  to  feed  the  world  ;  the  patient  researches  of  such 
bacteriologists  as  Koch  and  Pasteur  enable  society 
to  relieve  its  members  from  sickness  and  suffering 
and  to  save  them  from  premature  death ;  the  work 
of  Edison  ministers  to  the  comfort  and  convenience 
of  mankind  in  scores  of  ways ;  the  scientist  who  dis- 
covered the  relation  between  a  certain  kind  of  mos- 
quito and  yellow  fever  was  a  moral  benefactor. 

War  and  science.  —  Today,  when  the  United 
States  is  taking  its  part  in  the  great  international 
conflict,  in  the  name  of  civilization  and  for  the  sake 
of  humanity,  though  it  feels  that  its  cause  is  just  it 
must  depend  for  success  upon  the  combined  contri- 
butions of  men  of  science  in  every  field  of  endeavor 
—  agriculture,  physics,  and  chemistry  especially. 
Patriotism  and  a  righteous  desire  to  serve  humanity 
are  no  more  availing  at  a  time  like  this,  if  compelled 
to  fight  alone,  than  are  piety  and  a  desire  to  save  the 


174    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

world  upon  the  part  of  a  preacher.  To  them  must 
obviously  be  added  a  period  of  intellectual  and  other 
forms  of  preparedness  before  the  minister  can  trans- 
late his  desire  into  effective  action.  Just  so  is  a 
great  and  patriotic  nation  finding  that  it  can  be 
effective  only  by  enlisting  and  utilizing  every  type 
of  scientific  endeavor  in  the  effort  to  translate  its 
purpose  and  its  ideals  into  effective  action. 

Science  in  relation  to  Deity.  —  Herbert  Spencer, 
in  his  essay,  "  What  Knowledge  Is  of  Most  Worth," 
undertakes  to  show  that  the  answer  is  science, 
whether  considered  for  purposes  of  discipline  or 
guidance.  Most  of  the  essay  is  devoted  to  a  con- 
sideration of  its  intellectual  values  with  which  we 
are  not  here  concerned,  but  in  briefly  arguing  for 
the  religious  value  of  science,  he  closes  with  this 
remarkable  paragraph  : 

"While  towards  the  traditions  and  authorities  of  men 
its  attitude  may  be  proud,  before  the  impenetrable  veil 
which  hides  the  Absolute  its  attitude  is  humble  —  a  true 
pride  and  a  true  humility.  Only  the  sincere  man  of 
science  —  and  by  this  title  we  do  not  mean  the  mere 
calculator  of  distances,  or  analyzer  of  compounds,  or 
labeller  of  species ;  but  him  who  through  lower  truths 
seeks  higher,  and  eventually  the  highest  —  only  the 
genuine  man  of  science,  we  say,  can  truly  know  how 
utterly  beyond,  not  only  human  knowledge,  but  human 
conception,  is  the  Universal  Power,  of  which  Nature, 
and  Life,  and  Thought  are  manifestations." 

Dr.  Hodge,  who  has  perhaps  given  us  the  best 
book  on  nature  study  that  has  yet  been  written, 
says,  in  kindred  terms : 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    175 

"No  one  can  love  nature  and  not  love  its  Author,  and 
if  we  can  find  a  nature  study  that  shall  insure  a  sincere 
love,  we  shall  be  laying  the  surest  possible  foundation  for 
religious  character."  l 

Religion  involves  man's  love  for  God,  but  the 
modern  world  has  learned  from  Jesus  Christ  that 
man's  love  for  his  fellow  man  is  a  fair  measure  of  his 
love  for  his  God,  and  that  his  love  of  both  can  best  be 
shown  in  service.  The  student  who  learns  nature's 
secrets  that  she  may  be  made  to  serve  humanity  is 
thus  approaching  God  through  a  legitimate  channel. 
It  is  one  way  of  thinking  God's  thoughts  and  pur- 
poses after  him,  and  of  joining  hands  with  the 
Almighty  in  acts  of  creation.  Any  natural  science 
study  that  enables  two  blades  of  grass  to  grow  where 
but  one  grew  before ;  and  any  that  results  in  the 
transformation  of  a  desert  place  into  a  garden,  is  a 
study  that  must  be  rated  as  moral  in  its  results  and 
may  easily  become  religious. 

Lowell  had  a  similar  thought  in  mind  when  he 
wrote : 

"Who  does  his  duty  is  a  question 
Too  complex  to  be  solved  by  me, 
But  he,  I  venture  the  suggestion, 
Does  part  of  his  that  plants  a  tree." 

Certainly  one  of  the  fine  exhibitions  of  altruism 
which  we  may  find  is  that  of  the  old  man  who  plants 
an  orchard  or  a  tree  for  the  benefit  of  a  future  genera- 
tion, knowing  full  well  that  he  can  not  hope  to  live 
long  enough  personally  to  enjoy  its  fruit  or  its 
shade, 

1  Nature  Study  and  Life,  p.  30. 


176    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

The  actual  practical  observance  of  Arbor  Day  in 
the  schoolroom,  if  it  is  accompanied  by  such  in- 
struction in  the  planting,  growth,  and  care  of  shrubs 
and  trees  as  is  appropriate  to  a  given  soil  or  locality, 
is  to  be  commended  on  moral  grounds.  It  tends 
towards  the  development  of  the  social  and  altruistic 
impulses  as  well  as  the  more  immediate  aesthetic 
results  which  may  justify  it. 

By  no  means  can  it  be  shown  that  everything 
which  it  is  worth  while  to  study  in  nature  has  the 
intimate  relation  to  man,  his  needs  and  satisfactions 
that  the  apple  tree  has,  but  Bryant's  "  The  Planting 
of  the  Apple-Tree  "  points  out  much  that  is  typical 
of  a  phase  of  nature  study  that  is  most  profitable  for 
elementary  school  study.  Three  stanzas  of  the 
poem  are  given  below  because  they  best  embody  this 
moral  aspect  of  nature,  this  social  relationship  be- 
tween nature  and  human  nature : 

"What  plant  we  in  this  apple-tree  ? 
Sweets  for  a  hundred  flowery  springs 
To  load  the  May-wind's  restless  wings, 
When,  from  the  orchard  row,  he  pours 
Its  fragrance  through  our  open  doors ; 

A  world  of  blossoms  for  the  bee, 
Flowers  for  the  sick  girl's  silent  room, 
For  the  glad  infant  sprigs  of  bloom, 

We  plant  with  the  apple-tree. 

"What  plant  we  in  this  apple-tree! 
Fruits  that  shall  swell  in  sunny  June, 
And  redden  in  the  August  noon, 
And  drop,  when  gentle  airs  come  by, 
That  fan  the  blue  September  sky, 


THROUGH  NATURE  STUDY  AND  SCIENCE    177 

While  children  come,  with  cries  of  glee, 
And  seek  them  where  the  fragrant  grass 
Betrays  their  bed  to  those  who  pass, 

At  the  foot  of  the  apple-tree. 

"And  when,  above  this  apple-tree, 
The  winter  stars  are  quivering  bright, 
And  winds  go  howling  through  the  night, 
Girls,  whose  young  eyes  o'erflow  with  mirth, 
Shall  peel  its  fruit  by  cottage  hearth, 

And  guests  in  prouder  homes  shall  see, 
Heaped  with  the  grape  of  Cintra's  vine 
And  golden  orange  of  the  Line, 

The  fruit  of  the  apple-tree." 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Does  knowledge  of  nature  and  science  tend  most 
towards  or  away  from   a  development  of  the  spiritual 
nature  in  man  ?     Find  what  you  can  in  the  life  of  Bryant, 
Wordsworth,     Agassiz,     Audubon,     Muir,      Burroughs, 
Spencer,   Darwin,   Pasteur,  Huxley,   and  others  to  con- 
firm or  disprove  your  opinion. 

2.  Comment  upon  the  quotation  from  Huxley. 

3.  Justify  the  statement  of  the  text  that  a  study  of 
science  results  in  a  higher  regard  for  truth.     What  do 
you  understand  by  the  "scientific  method"   as  applied 
to  subjects  outside  the  realm  of  science  ? 

4.  Add  to  the  illustrations  in  the  text  to  show  that 
certain  very  practical  aspects  of  nature  study  have  social 
and  moral  values.     Use  illustrations  from  the  discoveries 
of  Burbank,  Edison,  Koch,  Pasteur,  and  Lister  to  prove 
this  statement. 

5.  Discuss  the  quotations  in  the  text  from   Spencer 
and  from*  Hodge. 


178    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

6.  Justify  the  observance  of  Arbor  Day  upon  moral 
grounds ;   upon  aesthetic  grounds. 

7.  Try  to  estimate  the  relative  importance  to  your  own 
character,   from   the   standpoint   of  initiative   and   inde- 
pendence,  of  knowledge   gained   through   first-hand   ob- 
servation, study,  and  experiment,  and  that  which  came 
from  books  and  the  authority  of  some  one  else. 

8.  Think  of  the  scientific  studies  that  have  resulted  in 
the  use  of  antiseptics,  disinfectants,  vaccines,  anaesthesia, 
refrigeration,  gas  masks,  pasteurization,  fertilizers  of  soil, 
rotation  of  crops,  successful  war  upon  mosquitoes,  tubercle 
bacilli,  and  codling  moths,  and  other  achievements  that 
may  occur  to  you,  and  discuss  them  in  the  light  of  their 
moral  worth. 

9.  Does    increased    scientific    knowledge    and    insight 
make  one  more  dogmatic  and  intolerant   or  add  to  his 
humility  ?     Comment    upon    the    following     statement : 
"To  know  one  thing  well  is  to  know  the  whole  universe." 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

FISKE,  JOHN  :  Through  Nature  to  God.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 
HAMILTON,  LADY  CLAUD  :   Louis  Pasteur,  His  Life  and  Labors. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
HODGE,  CLIFTON  F. :  Nature  Study  and  Life,  chapter  n.     Ginn 

&Co. 
JORDAN,  DAVID  STARR:  Nature  Study  and  Moral  Culture,  in 

Proceedings  N.  E.  A.    1896,  pp.  130-141. 
McMuRRY,    CHARLES    A. :    Special    Method    in    Elementary 

Science,  chapters  n,  v,  and  vi.     Macmillan  Co. 
SPENCER,  HERBERT:   Education:  What  Knowledge  Is  of  Most 

Worth.     Hurst  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MORAL  INSTRUCTION   THROUGH   MANUAL 
TRAINING 

Meaning  of  the  phrase  as  used.  —  In  this  chap- 
ter the  term  manual  training  is  used  in  a  broad  and 
untechnical  sense.  Let  it  be  understood  to  include 
the  training  which  comes  from  using  the  hand 
freely,  as  well  as  the  mind,  whether  in  the  house- 
hold arts  and  sciences,  agriculture,  mechanic  arts 
courses,  or  trades.  It  may,  indeed,  be  applied  as 
aptly  to  the  training  which  comes  from  useful  labor 
done  by  children  outside  of  school,  provided  it  be 
done  under  such  parental  or  other  supervision  that 
standards  and  ideals  of  excellence  are  required  of  the 
worker,  and  habits  of  a  proper  sort  are  set  up. 
In  fact,  some  children  seem  to  need  a  certain  con- 
tact with  the  world  of  industry  and  with  men  of 
practical  affairs  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the 
standards  of  conduct  urged  and  held  up  in  the  best 
schools  are  not  merely  academic  standards  but  the 
standards  of  the  business  and  industrial  world,  and 
for  that  very  reason  have  a  place  in  the  school. 
In  so  far,  therefore,  as  a  boy  learns  lessons  in  obedi- 
ence, punctuality,  fidelity,  accuracy,  industry,  neat- 
ness, politeness,  self-control,  reliability,  initiative, 
and  cooperation,  he  is  learning  valuable  moral  les- 

179 


i8o    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

sons,  whether  they  are  learned  in  school,  shop,  home, 
store,  or  office. 

Crediting  outside  work.  —  The  slowly  growing 
custom  of  giving  children  school  credit  for  home  and 
other  outside  work  is  based  upon  a  recognition  of 
this  principle.  The  social  and  moral  value  of  the 
work  done  by  the  farmer  boy  who  does  the  morning 
chores  before  starting  to  school  and  the  evening 
chores  after  his  return,  including,  perhaps,  the 
watering  and  feeding  of  the  stock,  gathering  the 
eggs,  milking  the  cows,  chopping  and  carrying 
in  wood;  or  by  the  girl  who  does  such  household 
work  as  preparing,  or  helping  to  prepare,  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  meals,  washing  dishes,  making  beds, 
sweeping,  dusting,  ironing,  sewing,  darning,  and 
other  homely  but  very  necessary  domestic  tasks,  is 
not  surpassed  and  seldom  equaled  by  the  more 
formal  manual  and  domestic  art  courses  offered  in 
our  good  schools  today.  Where  parents  are  wise 
enough  to  require  such  service  at  the  hands  of  their 
children  today;  or,  assuming  such  wisdom,  where 
the  condition  of  life  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
give  their  children  such  an  opportunity  for  service, 
there  is  not  a  large  need  for  such  courses  in  school. 
It  is  remembered,  of  course,  that  there  are  thou- 
sands of  parents  in  village  and  city  who  have  noth- 
ing worth  while  for  their  children,  and  particularly 
their  boys,  to  do.  For  these  the  manual  courses  in 
school  offer  almost  the  only  opportunity  to  teach 
the  lessons  discussed  in  this  chapter. 

Manual  training  found  its  way  into  the  elementary 
schools  upon  other  grounds  than  moral  ones,  but  it 
is  doubtful  whether  many  subjects  equal  it  in  moral 


THROUGH   MANUAL  TRAINING  181 

values,  and  for  the  "  motorminded  "  child  it  is 
probably  superior  to  most  other  subjects  having  a 
moral  aim.  The  teacher  trained  only  in  academic 
lines  is  likely  to  have  more  respect  for  this  late- 
comer into  the  curriculum  if  she  consider  what  it 
has  to  commend  it  in  this  direction. 

Reformatories  first  to  see  moral  value  of  work.  — 
The  reformatories  of  the  country  recognized  the 
moral  effects  of  labor  before  the  schools  gave  evi- 
dence of  seeing  them.  The  transformation  of  prisons 
and  penitentiaries  into  reformatory  schools  and 
workshops  is  one  of  the  most  important  social  re- 
forms of  modern  times.  In  the  former,  prisoners 
were  kept  in  idleness,  and  sometimes  in  solitary 
confinement  for  long  periods  of  years,  only  to  come 
out  at  last  bitter  and  resentful  against  society  for 
what  was  too  often  rightly  felt  to  be  its  unjust 
treatment  of  them.  In  the  latter,  there  are  social 
contact,  books,  music,  sermons,  and,  best  of  all, 
useful  labor,  to  occupy  most  of  the  waking  hours 
of  every  prisoner.  The  vice  of  idleness  more  than 
any  other  is  scrupulously  avoided.  A  trade  is 
followed  and  often  taught,  while  the  habit  of  industry 
is  one  of  the  best  fruits  of  a  prison  sentence.  The 
story  has  often  been  told  of  a  visit  to  a  well-managed 
reformatory  by  a  man  who  had  several  idle,  worth- 
less sons.  He  was  so  impressed  by  the  discipline 
of  the  institution,  the  regular  habits,  and  the  indus- 
try of  its  inmates  that  he  wanted  to  know  on  what 
terms  his  sons  might  be  admitted  !  The  story  may 
not  be  true,  but  might  well  be  so,  since  it  illustrates 
a  truth  so  well. 

It  seems  strange  that  manual  training  was  not 


1 82    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

earlier  recognized  as  being  a  great  formative  agent 
in  the  development  of  substantial  character;  but 
its  reformative  influence  having  been  demonstrated 
in  a  number  of  institutions,  it  was  not  difficult  to 
conclude,  and  then  to  demonstrate,  that  it  has  no 
less  value  for  the  normal  child  as  a  factor  in  char- 
acter-building. Today  no  system  of  public  schools 
worthy  of  the  name  can  be  found  without  some 
form  of  manual  training  in  grades,  high  school,  or 
both. 

Appeal  to  interests  of  children.  —  Viewed  from 
the  standpoint  of  morality  alone,  several  things  can 
be  claimed  for  manual  training.  First  of  all,  it  ap- 
peals to  the  native  interests  of  many  children  who 
can  not  be  sufficiently  interested  in  books  and 
bookish  courses.  Without  interest  in  the  thing 
studied  it  is  difficult  for  any  child  to  grow  much 
in  stability  of  character  while  pursuing  it.  It  is 
not  necessary  here  to  review  the  opposing  claims 
of  the  advocates  of  interest  and  effort  in  education. 
The  reader  who  wishes  to  pursue  this  subject  may 
find  it  profitable  to  consult  Dewey's  splendid  mono- 
graph.1 But  it  may  be  conservatively  asserted  that 
thousands  of  children  have  found  in  industrial  sub- 
jects which  constantly  require  the  use  of  hand  and 
mind  at  the  same  time,  their  first  genuine  interest 
in  school.  Every  teacher  knows  that  without  such 
an  interest  many  children  are  daily  exhibiting  such 
traits  as  indifference,  laziness,  tardiness,  truancy, 
and  disobedience  —  traits  and  tendencies  for  which 
the  intellectual  and  other  acquisitions  resulting  from 
the  work  of  the  school  are  very  slight  compensations. 

1  Interest  and  Effort  in  Education, 


THROUGH   MANUAL   TRAINING  183 

Indeed,  there  is  ground  for  the  fear  that  both  teachers 
and  parents  have  been  altogether  too  blind  in  their 
devotion  to  the  school  and  in  their  tacit  assumption 
that  a  child  will  necessarily  be  better  off  for  spend- 
ing eight  or  twelve  years  in  school,  regardless  of  his 
attitude  and  habits  resulting  therefrom.  "  In  our 
thirst  for  information  we  have  become  school  mad. 
I  say  it  because  we  undertake  to  absorb  practically 
every  moment  of  the  time  of  the  child  in  his  academic 
work,  most  of  it  with  books  dealing  either  with 
ancient  affairs  or  with  abstract  information  which, 
good  though  it  is,  can  not  constitute  a  sufficient  prep- 
aration for  a  life  in  the  present  and  with  the  con- 
crete." l  Surely  it  is  true  that  if  there  is  not  some- 
thing in  the  school  that  is  compelling  enough  in  its 
interesting  appeal  to  overcome  the  vices  named 
above,  it  is  better  to  take  a  child  out  of  school  and 
surround  him  with  such  opportunities  for  a  rational 
and  wholesome  response  as  will  tend  towards  habits 
and  attitudes  that  are  moral.  With  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  power  for  good  in  our  public  schools, 
may  we  not  believe  that  some  children  are  so  con- 
stituted that  many  of  the  most  desirable  elements 
of  character  in  them  are  sacrificed ;  sacrificed,  too, 
when  they  might  be  conserved  and  developed,  were 
the  children  not  compelled  to  remain  in  school  in- 
different and  unresponsive  to  its  appeals  ? 

For  some  such  children  manual  training  has  proved 
to  be  the  interesting  educative  factor  in  the  cur- 
riculum. For  many  more  it  would  prove  so,  if 
more  time  could  be  given  the  subject,  and  if  a  more 
varied  curriculum  of  manual  subjects  could  be  of- 

1  Davenport,  Education  for  Efficiency,  p.  78. 


1 84    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

fered.  My  attention  was  called  some  time  ago  to 
a  few  boys  who  were  the  bane  of  their  teachers' 
lives  until  they  were  given  permission  to  enter  a 
school  blacksmith  shop  for  an  hour  every  day. 
Under  the  stimulus  of  their  newly  found  interest  in 
the  shop,  they  became  tractable,  dutiful,  regular  in 
their  attendance,  and  finally  resumed  their  dis- 
continued study  of  formal  grammar  even,  with  a 
fair  degree  of  success. 

But  the  point  illustrated  is  just  this  :  that  the  type 
of  schoolwork  which  really  educates  is  one  in  which 
the  child  is  interested ;  and  that  manual  activities 
awaken  interests  in  many  children  who  are  unre- 
sponsive to  academic  appeals.  The  pity  is  that  most 
of  our  schools  have  but  a  few  lines  of  manual  studies 
in  their  curricula,  and  so  fail  to  awaken  many  in- 
terests that  would  easily  be  aroused  by  a  more 
varied  and  differentiated  manual  course. 

A  lesson  from  Tuskegee.  —  One  of  the  secrets 
of  the  success  of  the  late  Booker  T.  Washington's 
school  at  Tuskegee,  Alabama,  is  to  be  found  at 
this  point.  It  offers  opportunities  in  a  score  or  more 
of  manual  lines,  and  really  teaches  as  many  trades. 
Every  student  there  can  find  something  of  interest 
to  him,  and  having  found  it,  he  can  devote  himself 
to  it  with  an  energy  and  a  singleness  of  purpose 
and  enthusiasm  that  make  for  the  development  of 
character  as  well  as  technical  skill.  Indeed,  Booker 
Washington  himself  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  that 
he  was  not  less  concerned  with  the  problem  of  mak- 
ing a  better  man  out  of  a  brick-mason  than  of  mak- 
ing a  better  mason  out  of  a  man.  He  did  both,  to 
be  sure,  but  he  could  not  have  hoped  to  give  technical 


THROUGH   MANUAL  TRAINING  185 

skill  to  his  students  and  with  the  same  training  leave 
a  permanent  stamp  upon  their  character  if  he  had 
not  had  for  each  one  of  them  a  type  of  work  in 
which  his  interests  were  engaged  to  the  point  of 
taking  hold  of  his  will,  the  very  citadel  of  his 
morality.  In  view  of  the  great  numbers  of  colored 
people  who  are  illiterate  and  unskilled  in  the  trades, 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  founder  of  Tuskegee  had 
pride  in  saying  on  so  many  occasions  that  "  not  a 
single  graduate  of  the  Hampton  Institute  or  the 
Tuskegee  Institute  can  be  found  today  in  any 
jail  or  state  penitentiary."  To  my  mind  this  is 
one  of  the  best  testimonials  to  the  value  of  training 
in  interesting  manual  lines  along  with  academic  and 
religious  instruction,  such  as  Tuskegee  gives,  in 
developing  well-rounded  and  stable  moral  char- 
acter in  a  student.  Plato  made  the  mistake  of  con- 
founding knowledge  and  virtue,  and  the  prisons  of 
the  country  are  eloquent  witnesses  of  the  fact  that 
collegiate  training  of  an  academic  sort  is  not  always 
sufficient  to  produce  a  virtuous  man. 

Work  in  relation  to  sympathy  and  appreciation.  — 
In  a  democracy  like  ours,  in  which  so  much  depends 
upon  a  mutual  recognition  of  the  rights,  privileges, 
and  responsibilities  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the 
educated  and  the  less  favored,  capitalists  and 
laborers,  the  native-born  and  the  alien,  there  are 
few  things  which  tend  more  to  develop  the  spirit  of 
brotherhood  and  of  mutual  respect,  sympathy,  and 
esteem  in  opposing  classes,  than  manual  activities 
in  which  children  of  these  classes  may  have  a  part 
side  by  side.  A  man  may  be  so  wealthy  that  his 
son  will  never  be  likely  to  face  the  problem  of  having 


1 86      MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

to  work  with  his  hands  to  earn  his  own  living ;  but 
if  this  son  works  at  something,  if  he  learns  from 
actual  experience  what  it  means  in  time,  in  patience, 
in  energy,  in  skill,  to  fashion  a  vase,  or  make  a 
table,  or  hammer  into  shape  and  weld  the  links  of 
a  chain,  he  will  likely  develop  a  more  wholesome 
respect  and  sympathy  for  his  neighbor's  son  who  can 
do  these  things  better  than  he,  and  may  perforce 
be  compelled  to  do  these  or  similar  things  as  long 
as  he  lives. 

A  man  may  regard  the  work  of  his  wife  in  man- 
aging the  household  and  directing  the  study,  work, 
and  play  of  his  children  as  petty  in  its  nature  and 
not  at  all  taxing  her  powers ;  but  the  first  time  he 
is  required  to  take  her  place  for  a  day  or  longer,  he 
is  likely  to  develop  a  degree  of  sympathy  for  her  and 
an  appreciation  of  the  magnitude  of  her  task  that 
he  never  felt  before.  Not  long  ago  I  watched  one 
of  my  boys,  a  boy  of  fourteen,  as  he  painted  the 
interior  of  a  bedroom  in  our  home.  It  was  a  vol- 
untary service  on  his  part  and  he  had  spent  some 
hours  upon  the  task  before  I  observed  him.  It 
looked  both  simple  and  easy  to  do,  but  as  I  watched 
him  at  work  I  soon  concluded  that  he  was  not  as 
careful  as  he  should  have  been  to  confine  his  paint 
to  the  walls,  apply  it  evenly  over  the  whole  surface, 
and  keep  it  off  of  the  woodwork,  surrounding  doors 
and  windows  in  these  walls.  Happily  for  both  of 
us,  I  did  not  reproach  him  for  carelessness,  but 
asked  for  the  brush  that  I  might  show  him  just  how 
to  do  it  well.  In  less  than  two  minutes  I  learned 
that  it  was  not  half  so  simple  a  task  for  an  amateur 
as  it  looked  to  be,  and  after  a  few  smears  and  badly 


THROUGH   MANUAL  TRAINING  187 

directed  daubs  from  my  brush,  I  returned  it  to  him, 
and  with  it  I  paid  him  the  compliment  his  work 
deserved  —  a  compliment  withheld  at  first  because 
I  could  not  know  sooner  how  well  he  was  doing. 
In  these  illustrations  we  may  see  one  of  the  moral 
effects  which  come  from  any  sort  of  manual  or  in- 
dustrial effort.     It  gives   a  basis   for  appreciation, 
for  sympathy,   for   understanding,    and   for   rightly 
evaluating  the  efforts  of  those  who  labor  in  these 
lines.     The    conflicts    between    capital    and    labor, 
between    employers    and    employees,    between    pro- 
ducers  and   consumers  in   almost   all  lines  of  pro- 
duction, are  unduly  aggravated  and  heated  ofttimes 
because  the  training  and  experience  of  these  two 
classes  have  been  too  disparate  to  give  a  basis  for 
the  mutual  sympathy,  understanding,  and  tolerance 
necessary  for  harmony,  cooperation,  teamwork,  and 
concessions  that  ought  to  be  made  to  just  demands 
at  times.     Inter-school  athletics  has  reached  a  stage 
of  development  in  many  communities  that  permits 
a  team  and  its  rooters  to  cheer  a  splendid  play  made 
by  the   opposing  team.      A    similar    basis    for    un- 
derstanding the  merits  of  an  industrial  game  will 
make  it  easier  for  every  one  to  commend,  and  in 
other   appropriate   ways    suitably   reward,    the   ex- 
cellent work  done  by  the  worker  in  whatever  line 
it  is  exhibited. 

I  confess  that  I  feel  like  taking  off  my  hat  to 
thousands  of  skilled  workers  whose  work  makes  it 
possible  for  me  to  enjoy  comforts  and  conveniences 
that  I  could  never  secure  without  their  services. 
This  applies  to  the  carpenters  who  built  my  house ; 
the  cabinet-makers  who  made  its  furniture;  the 


1 88    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

man  who  sits  in  the  cab  with  his  hand  on  the  throttle, 
master  of  the  monster  locomotive  that  pulls  the 
train  bearing  me  to  a  distant  city  while  I  sleep  with 
a  feeling  of  security  not  much  less  than  I  have  when 
I  retire  for  the  night  in  my  own  home. 

Moral  obligation  of  self-support.  —  In  vocational 
and  even  prevocational  courses  there  is  still  another 
distinctly  moral  aim  that  may  be  realized.  It  lies 
in  the  courses  wherein  the  student  discovers  his 
native  bent,  or  having  discovered  it,  continues  to 
specialize  as  a  student  to  increase  his  efficiency  in 
his  chosen  career  as  a  breadwinner.  Among  the 
most  important  of  man's  obligations  is  that  of  sup- 
porting himself  and  his  family.  The  choice  of  a 
life  career  and  the  training  for  it  are  parts  of  the 
duty  of  each  one  of  us.  It  is  immoral  to  be  a 
social  parasite.  Economic  independence  made  pos- 
sible through  a  rational  choice  of  a  vocation  and 
adequate  training  for  it,  is  a  prime  consideration 
for  good  citizenship.  Culture,  enjoyment  of  leisure 
along  aesthetic  lines,  and  mental  discipline  as  such, 
all  have  their  place  in  the  scheme  of  one's  training, 
but  more  fundamental  than  these  is  the  duty  of 
self-support,  of  finding  one's  place  in  the  world  of 
workers.  The  world  perhaps  owes  every  man  a 
living,  and  it  stands  ready  to  pay  the  debt,  but 
only  on  condition  that  he  make  proper  return  in 
service  of  some  sort  which  the  world  needs.  It 
is,  therefore,  no  mean  type  of  morality  which  a 
student  is  acquiring  when  he  learns,  in  school  or 
out,  those  mechanical  arts,  that  skill  and  technique, 
and  those  habits  which  can  be  made  to  function 
readily  when  he  takes  his  place  as  a  bread-winner. 


THROUGH   MANUAL  TRAINING  189 

Labor  a  fortification  against  vice.  —  Not  only  is 
this  a  virtue  in  itself,  but  it  is  a  bulwark  which 
fortifies  its  possessor  against  the  danger  of  many 
other  vices.  It  is  proverbial  that  the  Devil  finds 
something  for  idle  hands  to  do.  There  are  tempta- 
tions enough  for  any  young  man,  to  be  sure,  but* they 
are  infinitely  multiplied  for  the  one  who  is  not 
anchored  in  life  by  some  worthy  calling  that  demands 
most  of  his  time  and  strength  and  talents  during 
most  of  his  waking  hours.  He  is  fortunate,  there- 
fore, if  he  has  been  not  merely  educated  in  school, 
but  educated  for  something,  so  that  he  can  promptly 
find  his  place  in  the  industrial  or  professional  world 
on  leaving  school,  without  the  opportunity  or  the 
temptation  to  sow  a  crop  of  wild  oats  while  he  has 
nothing  else  to  do.  The  ranks  of  gamblers,  drunk- 
ards, tramps,  thieves,  and  other  parasitical  classes 
are  recruited,  for  the  most  part,  from  men  who  not 
only  have  no  worthier  job,  but  no  trade  and  no  pro- 
fession whereby  they  can  make  an  honest  living. 
Any  adequate  training  in  morality,  therefore,  must 
include  training  in  industry,  and  ought  to  increase 
a  child's  feeling  that  labor  is  dignified,  honorable, 
and  even  obligatory  for  all  men  and  women.  It  is 
important  because  it  lessens  vice,  but  is  in  itself  a 
positive  virtue. 

Service  as  the  chief  duty  of  man. --Training 
boys  and  girls  to  work  is  training  them  for  service 
which  must  finally  be  regarded  as  the  chief  duty  of 
man.  The  Great  Teacher  was  able  to  say,  .'"  I 
came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister/' 
On  more  than  one  occasion  he  taught  that  who  would 
be  great  in  the  kingdom  must  become  a  servant. 


I  go    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Paul,  in  writing  to  one  of  the  churches  of  the  day, 
acknowledged  that  he  labored  night  and  day  that 
he  "  might  not  be  chargeable  to  any  of  you/'  Not 
to  learn  to  do  well  some  portion  of  the  world's  work 
is  to  miss  one  of  the  greatest  moral  obligations  rest- 
ing upon  us.  Any  manual  training,  therefore,  using 
the  term  in  its  broad  sense,  that  helps  a  boy  or 
girl  to  discover  the  field  in  which  he  can  work  most 
happily  and  contentedly,  and  any  later  training 
that  helps  him  to  do  that  work  most  helpfully  and 
effectively,  is  to  be  esteemed  as  a  means  of  dis- 
charging this  moral  obligation. 

Agriculture,  the  mechanic  arts,  commercial  sub- 
jects, various  phases  of  engineering,  the  household 
arts  —  all  have  a  large  place  in  the  schools  of  the 
day  because  they  have  this  combined  moral  and 
vocational  trend.  One  of  the  suggestive  and  help- 
ful books  l  recently  written  for  teachers  is  devoted 
to  the  very  practical  subject  of  vocational  training 
and  guidance,  but  the  presupposition  of  nearly  every 
chapter  is  that  vocational  guidance  is  fundamentally 
moral  guidance  as  well.  And  so  it  is.  Parents 
and  teachers  who  succeed  in  guiding  children  into 
the  most  appropriate  channels  for  life-work  are  com- 
pelled to  consider  the  moral  aspects  of  this  work, 
and  at  the  same  time  they  have  a  right  to  think  of 
a  proper  vocation  as  itself  one  of  the  moral  assets  of 
its  possessor. 

1  Davis,  Vocational  and  Moral  Guidance. 


THROUGH  MANUAL  TRAINING 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 


191 


1.  Show  the  psychological  basis  for  manual   and  in- 
dustrial   courses    in    school.     Can    courses    in    reading, 
history,  geography,  and  mathematics  be  made  to  utilize 
so  fully  the  instinct  for  construction  and  self-expression  ? 
Why? 

2.  Discuss   the   sociological   need   of  such   courses   in 
school  today  as  compared  with  their  need  a  generation 
ago.     Enumerate  the  activities  in  which  boys  and  girls 
formerly  had  a  daily  part  in  the  home  and  upon  the  farm, 
and  show  whether  you  see  in  them  an  excuse  for  more 
or  less  attention  to  manual  courses  in  school  today. 

3.  From  the  following  list  of  habits  and  ideals,  show 
what  ones  a  teacher  might  reasonably  expect  to  set  up 
or  modify  in  his  pupils  through  a  manual  course  :   (a)  obe- 
dience ;     (b)    initiative ;     (c)    accuracy ;     (d)    neatness ; 
(e)  cooperation ;     (f)  industry ;     (g)   sympathy.     Has  it 
been  your  observation  and  experience  that  any  or  all  of 
these  habits  do  result  from  such  courses  ?     What  can  you 
say  of  the  relation  of  such  habits  and  ideals  to  character  ? 

4.  Make  a  list  of  the  leading  men  and  women  of  your 
city  and  community  —  those  most  active  and  influential 
in  industrial,  civic,  moral,  and  religious  lines.     What  do 
you   know  of  their  early  training?     To  what   can  you 
ascribe  their  leadership  ? 

5.  Should  the  girl  from  a  wealthy  home  be  expected 
to  take  any  course  in  domestic  science  or  art  ?     Justify 
your  answer.     If  a  boy  resolves  early  in  life  to  become 
a  professional  man,  ought  he  take  any  manual  or  indus- 
trial course  in  school  ?     Why  ? 

6.  Account  for  the  influence  of  the  school  at  Tuskegee 
upon  the  character  of  the  negro.     What  influence  has  this 
school  had  upon  public  school  education  in  the  United 
States  ? 


192    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

7.  What  are  the  leading  differences  between  the  peni- 
tentiaries of  the  past   and  the  reformatories  of  today  ? 
Compare  the  results  achieved  in  the  two  types  of  institu- 
tions.    Discuss  the   aphorism,   "We  must  not  only  be 
good,  but  be  good  for  something." 

8.  Upon  what  theory  of  the  function  of  the  school  is 
based    the   growing   custom    of  giving   credit   for   home 
work  ?     What   is   the   effect   of  this    practice   upon    the 
child   so   credited  ?     List   the   kinds   of  work   for    which 
credit  is  given  in  various  schools. 

9.  What  can  the  school   do   to   dignify  labor  in    the 
mind  of  pupils  ?     Read  Lucy  Larcom's  An  Idyl  of  Work> 
especially  the  preface.     (See  also  "Working  Together," 
Book  IV,  of  the  Edson-Laing  Readers.) 

10.  Comment  on  William   Hawley  Smith's  definition 
of  an  educated  man :    "An  educated  man  is  one  who  is 
on  to  his  job." 

11.  Comment  upon  the  following:    "It  is    better  to 
have   a   boy  of  nine  or  ten  make  a  rickety,    unsteady, 
likely-to-fall-any-minute    table    because    he    wanted    to 
make  it,  than   a  whole  wilderness  of  beautifully   made 
miter  joints,  dovetails,  T-joints,   and  the  like,  just  be- 
cause they  happened  to  be  a  part  of  the  regular  schedule 
of  manual  exercises." 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

ALDERMAN,  L.  R. :   School  Credit  for  Home  Work.     Houghton 

Mifflin  Co. 
BATES,  R.  CHARLES  :  Possibilities  of  Manual  Training  for  Moral 

Ends,  in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1901,  pp.  270-275. 
DAVENPORT,   EUGENE  :   Education   for   Efficiency,   chapter  iv. 

D.  C.  Heath  and  Co. 
DEWEY,  JOHN  :   Democracy  in  Education,  chapter  xm.     Mac- 

millan  Co. 
HIRSCH,  EMIL  G. :  The  Moral  Aspect  of  Industrial  Education^ 

Educational  Review,  Vol.  XXXV,  pp.  449-454, 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MORAL   TRAINING   THROUGH   PLAY,   PHYSICAL 
CULTURE,    GAMES,   AND   ATHLETICS 

Attitude  of  the  Puritans.  —  Happily  for  children 
there  are  few  people  who  still  question  the  value  of 

Elay.  Our  stern  puritanical  ancestors  may  have 
liled  to  distinguish  between  play  and  laziness.  Many 
of  them  looked  upon  both  as  the  enemies  of  work  and 
of  religion,  and  regarded  both  as  impious  in  origin, 
and  baneful  in  their  effects  upon  character.  In 
colonial  times,  especially,  children  found  it  difficult 
to  give  wholesome  expression  to  the  play  instinct 
since  their  elders  were  convinced  that  it  was  devilish 
in  its  genesis,  and  an  evidence  of  an  unregenerate 
nature.  Since  those  times  there  has  been  a  gradual 
growth  in  tolerance  and  liberality  of  belief  and 
practice  upon  the  part  of  the  church. 

Influence  of  the  new  psychology.  —  Within  the 
last  twenty-five  years  this  growth  has  been  quick- 
ened by  the  development  of  a  "  new  psychology  " 
which  is  most  strikingly  shown  in  the  new  psychology 
of  childhood  and ,  adolescence.  The  modern  psy- 
chologist has  taught  ministers,  parents,  and  teachers 
to  look  for  the  springs  of  a  child's  conduct  and  the 
explanation  of  his  behavior  in  those  instincts,  im- 
pulses, and  racial  tendencies  that  date  back  to  the 
childhood  of  the  race.  Play  viewed  in  this  light  is 

193 


194    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

no  longer  to  be  thought  of  as  a  pathological  distor- 
tion of  religion,  but  a  biological  necessity,  as  beauti- 
ful as  it  is  natural  and  proper.  No  matter  whether 
it  is  explained,  as  Spencer  did  it,  by  the  "  surplus 
energy "  theory,  or  by  the  more  commonly  ac- 
cepted theory  of  Groos  that  it  is  nature's  way  of 
preparing  young  animals,  including  children,  for 
their  more  serious  duties  of  adult  life,  it  is  a  phe- 
nomenon to  be  utilized  and  not  to  be  inhibited  as 
something  inherently  evil  in  itself. 

Teachings  of  Plato.  —  Plato's  scheme  of  educa- 
tion is  set  forth  in  considerable  detail  in  his  Republic, 
in  which  music  for  the  soul  and  gymnastics  for  the 
body  are  advocated ;  but  he  anticipated  present-day 
beliefs  when,  in  Book  IV,  he  wrote, 

"Our  youth  should  be  educated  in  a  stricter  rule  from 
the  first,  for  if  education  becomes  lawless,  and  the  youths 
themselves  become  lawless,  they  can  never  grow  up  into 
well-conducted  and  meritorious  citizens.  .  .  .  And  the 
education  must  begin  with  their  plays.  The  spirit  of 
law  must  be  imparted  to  them  in  music,  and  the  spirit 
of  order,  attending  them  in  all  their  actions,  will  make 
them  grow ;  and  if  there  be  any  part  of  the  state  which 
has  fallen  down,  will  raise  it  up  again." 

Aristotle's  Politics  has  this  to  say  of  the  first  few 
years  of  a  child's  life  (to  the  age  of  five)  : 

"No  demand  should  be  made  upon  the  child  for  study 
or  labor  lest  its  growth  be  impeded ;  and  there  should  be 
sufficient  motion  to  prevent  the  limbs  from  being  inactive. 
This  can  be  secured,  among  other  ways,  by  amusement, 
but  the  amusement  should  not  be  vulgar  or  tiring  or 
riotous.  The  directors  of  education,  as  they  are  termed, 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL   CULTURE     195 

should  be  careful  what  tales  or  stories  the  children  hear, 
for  the  sports  of  children  are  designed  to  prepare  the  way 
for  the  business  of  later  life,  and  should  be  for  the  most 
part  imitations  of  the  occupations  which  they  will  here- 
after pursue  in  earnest." 

Quintilian  commented  upon  the  importance  of 
relaxation  and  play  in  the  following  paragraph  : 

"Yet  some  relaxation  is  to  be  allowed  to  all;  not  only 
because  there  is  nothing  that  can  bear  perpetual  labour 
(and  even  those  things  that  are  without  sense  and  life 
are  unbent  by  alternate  rest,  as  it  were,  in  order  that  they 
may  preserve  their  vigour),  but  because  application  to 
learning  depends  on  the  will,  which  cannot  be  forced. 
Boys,  accordingly,  when  re-invigorated  and  refreshed, 
bring  more  sprightliness  to  their  learning,  and  a  more 
determined  spirit,  which  for  the  most  part  spurns  com- 
pulsion. Nor  will  play  in  boys  displease  me ;  it  is  also 
a  sign  of  vivacity ;  and  I  cannot  expect  that  hej  who  is 
always  dull  and  spiritless  will  be  of  an  eager  disposition 
in  his  studies,  when  he  is  indifferent  even  to  that  excite- 
ment which  is  natural  to  his  age.  There  must  however 
be  bounds  set  to  relaxation,  lest  the  refusal  of  it  beget 
an  aversion  to  study,  or  too  much  indulgence  in  it  a 
habit  of  idleness.  There  are  some  kinds  of  amusement, 
too,  not  unserviceable  for  sharpening  the  wits  of  boys, 
as  when  they  contend  with  each  other  by  proposing  all 
sorts  of  questions  in  turn.  In  their  plays,  also,  their 
moral  dispositions  show  themselves  more  plainly,  sup- 
posing that  there  is  no  age  so  tender  that  it  may  not 
readily  learn  what  is  right  and  wrong;  and  the  tender 
age  may  best  be  formed  at  a  time  when  it  is  ignorant 
of  dissimulation,  and  most  willingly  submits  to  instruc- 
tors ;  for  you  may  break,  sooner  than  mend,  that  which 
has  hardened  into  deformity.  A  child  is  as  early  as 


196    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

possible,  therefore,  to  be  admonished  that  he  must  do 
nothing  too  eagerly,  nothing  dishonestly,  nothing  without 
self-control ;  and  we  must  always  keep  in  mind  the 
maxim  of  Virgil,  Adeo  in  teneris  consuescere  multum  est, 
'Of  so  much  importance  is  the  acquirement  of  habit  in 
the  young/"  * 

Influence  of  Froebel.  —  Froebel  was  perhaps  the 
first  great  educator  to  appreciate  the  educative  pos- 
sibilities of  what  we  now  know  as  the  play  instinct, 
though  the  good  he  saw  in  it  for  the  training  of  the 
kindergarten  child  is  now  generally  admitted  to  be 
little  less  deserving  of  a  place  in  the  scheme  of  edu- 
cation for  older  children  and  even  adults.  Of  this 
truth  the  most  obvious  witness  is  the  growth  in  num- 
bers and  popularity  of  gymnasiums,  playgrounds, 
and  play  apparatus.  Cities  and  schools  spend  large 
sums  of  money  to  this  end;  employ  supervisors  of 
play,  athletic  coaches,  and  recreational  directors ; 
close  busy  streets  to  traffic  in  the  neighborhood 
of  schools  certain  hours  of  the  day  in  some  cities ; 
and  sometimes  buy  and  tear  down  costly  business 
houses  to  provide  parks  and  playgrounds  for  chil- 
dren. Our  conception  of  the  place  of  play  in  life 
has  so  far  changed,  that  one  well-known  writer  2  as- 
serts even  that  "  the  man  who  does  not  play  in 
some  way  soon  degenerates." 

With  these  preliminary  general  statements  as  a 
background,  let  us  note  the  bearing  of  play  upon 
the  moral  life  of  the  child. 

Play  and  a  physical  basis  for  morality.  —  It 
tends  to  give  a  better  physical  basis  for  a  sound 

1  Institutes  of  Oratory,  chapter  iii. 

2  Kirkpatrick,  The  Fundamentals  of  Child  Study,  p.  151. 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL   CULTURE     197 

morality.  The  development  of  a  physiological  psy- 
chology has  brought  with  it  a  new  appreciation  of 
the  relation  of  morality  and  even  religion  itself  to 
physical  health.  There  is  abundant  clinical  evi- 
dence of  perversions  of  moral  conduct  on  the  part 
of  children  that  were  due  to  physical  causes,  and  of 
moral  reformation  effected  by  a  proper  application 
of  the  surgeon's  knife  or  a  building  up  of  the  physical 
condition  of  the  sufferer.  Every  one  knows  how 
closely  related  is  pessimism  to  poor  health,  and  how 
difficult  it  is  for  a  dyspeptic  rightly  to  evaluate  the 
motives  and  acts  of  his  fellow  men.  One  need  not 
be  so  badly  afflicted  as  Job  was  to  feel  tempted  to 
curse  God  and  die,  even  if  one  inhibits  the  impulse. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easiest  to  say  with  Brown- 
ing that 

"  God's  in  his  heaven  — 
All's  right  with  the  world  ! " 

when  one  is  feeling  the  buoyancy  of  abounding  health 
and  life.  This  relationship  is  well  illustrated  in  the 
biblical  story  of  Elijah*  who  lay  down  under  the 
juniper  tree,  wearied  and  fatigued  from  his  lonely 
travel,  and  crushed  by  the  thought  of  his  persecu- 
tions and  the  destruction  of  the  Lord's  prophets. 
In  this  condition  it  was  easy  for  him  to  yield  to  the 
wish  to  die.  It  was  then  that  his  attention  was 
arrested  by  an  angel  who  bade  him  rise  up  and  eat 
the  provisions  he  had  brought  him.  He  did  this 
and  then  slept  a  few  hours.  Awaking  again,  he 
once  more  ate  and  drank  as  bidden,  and  thus  re- 
freshed with  food,  drink,  and  sleep,  he  was  able  to 
resume  his  journey  and  ultimately  to  hear  the 
reassuring  voice  of  the  Lord  once  more. 


1 98    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Now  play  is  a  physical  tonic.  Being  instinctive, 
it  is  spontaneous,  interesting,  and  exhilarating.  It 
is  indulged  in  by  children  with  an  abandon  and  a 
zest  that  seldom  characterize  work.  It  is  almost 
always  suited  to  the  development  and  the  powers  of 
the  one  playing,  since  it  is  prompted  from  within 
and  is  done  for  its  own  sake.  Work,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  more  likely  to  be  done  as  a  result  of  an  in- 
fluence from  without  the  worker,  and  for  the  sake 
of  something  ulterior  which  can  be  gained  by  the 
work.  For  this  reason  it  may  unduly  tax  the 
strength  of  the  worker,  or  with  a  slighter  stimulus, 
it  may  not  sufficiently  engage  his  powers,  to  be  of 
physical  benefit.  But  in  the  case  of  play,  the  de- 
gree of  energy  used  and  the  state  of  mind  accom- 
panying the  act  are  both  such  as  to  result  in  a 
maximum  of  physical  benefit  in  a  minimum  length 
of  time.  The  result  of  free  play,  therefore,  is  al- 
most always  a  promotion  of  bodily  functions  and  an 
increase  of  bodily  vigor  which  we  are  justified  in 
assuming  as  a  foundation  for  a  healthy  morality. 
In  play,  a  child  is  not  only  promoting  his  health  and 
his  more  general  bodily  functions,  but  he  is  thereby 
developing  certain  brain  centers  which  make  pos- 
sible the  completion  of  his  sensori-motor  circuits. 
In  this  way  he  comes  into  possession  of  a  better 
neural  basis  for  both  intellectual  and  moral  activities 
and  in  turn  makes  of  his  body  a  readier  and  more 
responsive  instrument  with  which  to  express  his 
mental  and  moral  purposes.  In  subnormal  children 
there  is  almost  always  a  poor  coordination  of  move- 
ments, and  an  awkwardness  that  is  indicative  of 
feeble  control  of  accessory  muscles.  Free  play, 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL   CULTURE     199 

physical  exercises,  and  gymnastics  can  not  supply 
the  nerve  centers  that  are  deficient  in  structure  in 
such  cases,  but  they  can  develop  their  capacity  to 
function,  and  in  so  doing  increase  the  intellectual 
keenness  and  agility  of  the  child.  Even  a  child's 
self-respect  is  increased  as  he  comes  into  possession 
of  his  powers  as  an  individual.  His  confidence  in 
himself  grows  with  the  development  of  his  own 
personality.  Every  young  child  discovers  himself 
in  large  measure  through  the  medium  of  play,  and 
in  so  doing  prepares  the  way  for  his  later  develop- 
ment as  a  social  being,  for  one  needs  to  recognize 
himself  as  an  individual  before  he  can  become  a 
socialized  unit  of  a  larger  group. 

James  L.  Hughes,  in  an  address  before  the  National 
Education  Association,  1896,  on  "  Physical  Train- 
ing As  a  Factor  in  Character  Building,"  said  in  part : 

"Physical  culture  influences  character  by  making  the 
body  more  definite,  more  forceful,  more  graceful,  and 
more  free.  The  improved  attitude  of  the  body  reacts 
on  the  character  in  two  ways.  The  functions  of  the 
vital  organs  are  more  fully  performed  because  they  are 
more  free,  and  the  character  therefore  gains  in  force; 
and  the  consciousness  of  erectness  and  poise  brings  with 
it  an  added  consciousness  of  self-faith,  dignity,  and  in- 
tegrity. The  body  becomes  in  time  an  external  mani- 
festation of  the  character.  The  motions  of  the  arms, 
the  step,  the  habitual  attitude,  the  poise  of  the  head, 
even  the  way  the  fingers  and  thumbs  are  used  or  held, 
reveal  to  the  experienced  observer  the  character  behind 
them.  To  a  certain  extent  it  is  equally  true  that  the 
body  by  its  attitudes  and  its  modes  of  action  influences 
the  mind.  Body  and  mind  are  so  intimately  interrelated 
that  the  one  necessarily  reacts  on  the  other.  Make  the 


200    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

sweep  of  the  arms  more  free  and  you  widen  the  conception 
of  freedom,  and  register  the  new  conception  on  the  brain 
and  nerve  centers  by  effecting  changes  in  their  develop- 
ment, their  structure,  or  their  paths  of  action  to  corre- 
spond with  the  new  movements  they  have  been  required 
to  direct.  Change  that  boy's  step  from  that  shuffling 
gait,  and  make  a  definite  free  step  habitual,  and  you  have 
helped  to  change  his  character.  That  poor  boy  whose 
knees  bend  weakly  as  he  stands,  lacks  moral  fiber  as  well 
as  physical  definiteness.  Straighten  his  knees  and  you 
have  done  a  good  deal  to  straighten  and  define  his  char- 
acter." 

Play  as  a  revelation  of  character.  —  In  their 
play  at  home  and  school,  children  are  more  likely  to 
exhibit  their  real  selves,  with  whatever  of  moral 
strength  and  weakness  they  have,  than  in  the  class- 
room. In  the  latter  there  is  a  certain  artificiality 
that  is  unavoidable.  There  is  a  standard  of  conduct 
to  which  children  are  required  to  conform,  and  the 
teacher  may  not  always  know  how  foreign  it  is  to 
the  real  bent  and  will  of  some  of  them.  If  a  child 
is  selfish,  unkind,  cruel,  or  vulgar,  these  qualities 
will  be  exhibited  upon  the  playground.  A  child  is 
not  likely  to  pose  here.  As  Everett  says,  "  There 
is,  perhaps,  no  time  in  the  world  when  a  person  shows 
himself  for  just  what  he  is  as  truly  as  he  does  when  he 
is  amusing  himself.  Then  he  has  no  rules  to  observe ; 
he  is  off  his  guard,  and  whatever  of  good  or  bad  there 
is  in  him  is  likely  to  show  itself."  1  But  every  such 
exhibition  is  the  teacher's  opportunity.  She  must 
find  appropriate  ways  of  dealing  with  children,  what- 
ever their  individual  weakness  or  moral  needs. 

1  Ethics  for  Young  People. 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND  PHYSICAL  CULTURE    201 

Through  the  development  of  group  standards  of  moral- 
ity that  will  rebuke  the  immoral  child,  through  iso- 
lation, through  punishment,  through  interviews  that 
will  attempt  to  show  the  ugliness  of  the  acts  she 
condemns,  and  to  set  up  a  better  standard  and  ideal 
of  behavior,  she  will  minister  to  individual  children 
as  they  need.  She  will  do  it  persistently,  in  charity, 
and  without  fear  of  possible  unpleasant  consequences. 
She  will  do  it,  too,  mindful  of  the  fact  that  there  are 
likely  to  be  repetitions  of  the  fault  she  is  laboring  to 
correct,  for  habits,  dispositions,  and  attitudes  are 
not  permanently  and  instantly  changed  in  a  pupil, 
even  when  he  is  led  to  will  with  the  teacher  to  have 
them  so  changed. 

The  playground  a  cradle  of  democracy.  —  The 
playground  is  the  real  cradle  of  democracy  for  chil- 
dren. Here  they  quickly  learn  to  respect  the 
rights  of  others  in  their  miniature  world.  Often  a 
child  comes  to  school  from  a  home  in  which  he  is 
petted  and  spoiled  by  overindulgent  parents  who 
prevent  friction  by  uniformly  yielding  to  his  im- 
perious will.  But  on  the  school  playground  this  is 
very  properly  changed.  Such  a  child  soon  comes 
into  conflict  with  others  as  commanding  as  he  and 
sometimes  with  better  right.  Leadership  is  re- 
spected, but  it  must  be  leadership  based  upon  quali- 
ties which  the  group  can  endorse.  The  will  of  the 
majority  prevails.  The  pupil  who  sets  himself  in 
opposition  to  it  soon  loses  caste  and  is  whipped  into 
line  sooner  or  later  by  a  social  ostracism  which  the 
playground  knows  well  how  to  inflict. 

Teamwork  and  moral  training.  —  But  it  is  in 
the  "  teamwork  "  of  the  upper  grades  and  the  early 


202    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

adolescent  years  that  the  playground  has  its  largest 
opportunity  to  give  moral  training.  No  game  can 
be  played  successfully  until  the  players  learn  to 
subordinate  themselves  as  individuals  to  the  group 
composing  the  team.  Cooperation  is  required. 
The  honor  of  the  team,  or  the  reputation  of  the 
school,  is  at  stake.  The  individual  must  be  will- 
ing to  go  into  eclipse,  if  need  be.  He  must  occa- 
sionally make  a  "  sacrifice  hit  "  that  somebody  else 
may  make  a  "  home  run."  He  must  play  the  game 
and  play  it  "  fair."  Unnecessary  and  intentional 
personal  fouls  not  only  discredit  the  player  who 
makes  them,  but  react  to  the  lessening  of  his  team's 
chances  to  win.  I  can  not  do  better  here  than  to 
quote  the  words  of  a  great  teacher  who  sees  the 
spiritualizing  influence  of  the  school  as  a  social 
unit  carried  from  the  classroom  to  the  playground. 
*  There,"  he  says,  "  a  boy  learns  to  play  fair,  ac- 
customs himself  to  that  greatest  of  social  ties, 
r esprit  de  corps.  Throughout  life  a  man  needs  con- 
tinually to  merge  his  own  interests  in  those  of  a 
group.  He  must  act  as  the  father  of  a  family,  an 
operative  in  a  factory,  a  voter  of  Boston,  an  Ameri- 
can citizen,  a  member  of  an  engine  company,  union, 
church,  or  business  firm.  His  own  small  concerns 
are  taken  up  into  these  larger  ones,  and  devotion 
to  them  is  not  felt  as  self-sacrifice.  A  preparation 
for  such  ennoblement  is  laid  in  the  sports  of  child- 
hood. What  does  a  member  of  the  football  team 
care  for  battered  shins  or  earth-scraped  hands  ? 
His  side  has  won,  and  his  own  gains  and  losses  are 
forgotten.  Soon  his  team  goes  forth  against  an 
outside  team,  and  now  the  honor  of  the  whole  school 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL   CULTURE    203 

is  in  his  keeping.  What  pride  is  his !  As  he  puts 
on  his  uniform,  he  strips  off  his  isolated  personality 
and  stands  forth  as  the  trusted  champion  of  an 
institution/' 1 

Moral  and  hygienic  habits  fostered.  —  Other  moral 
values  are  coupled  with  this  in  insistence  upon  a 
reasonable  academic  and  scholarly  standard  as  a 
requirement  for  membership  in  a  contesting  team ; 
in  the  weeks  or  months  of  practice  and  drill  in 
preparation  for  a  contest ;  in  the  regulation  of  the 
players'  diet  that  they  may  become  physically  fit 
and  efficient;  in  prohibiting  their  use  of  tobacco 
and  any  sort  of  drink  whose  use  is  known  to  result 
in  unsteady  nerves  and  lowered  vitality.  An  un- 
solved problem,  as  yet,  is  how  to  make  this  sort  of 
training  "  carry  over  "  and  become  the  rule  of  life 
after  the  practice  season  is  over  for  the  players; 
but  the  moral  values  of  such  training  are  not  to  be 
despised  even  if  the  regulations  imposed  by  it  for 
a  season  are  not  voluntarily  imposed  and  maintained 
later  on. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  test  of  the  moral  value  of 
competitive  games  and  inter-school  athletics  is  the 
spirit  and  ideals  fostered  by  them.  If  they  result 
in  a  mastering  passion  to  win  at  any  price,  they  de- 
serve condemnation.  It  is  a  part  of  the  moral 
training  of  any  team  and  of  any  school  to  learn 
how  to  accept  defeat.  There  is  more  honor  in  an 
honorable  defeat  than  in  a  dishonorable  victory. 
Principals,  teachers,  captains,  and  coaches  can  not 
too  strongly  stress  this  fact  with  their  players  and 

1  Palmer,  "  Essay  on  Moral  Instruction  in  the  Schools,"  in  The 
Teacher. 


204    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

schools.  Clean  athletics  both  reflects  and  promotes 
a  high  type  of  morality.  Any  other  kind  is  so  im- 
moral in  its  effects  upon  the  players  that  it  can  not 
be  defended  at  all.  A  team  that  can  not  go  from  home 
and  refrain  from  rowdyism,  profanity,  and  drinking 
would  better  be  disbanded.  No  victory  is  a  suf- 
ficient compensation  for  the  stain  which  such  con- 
duct gives. 

Even  war  has  its  rules  which  civilized  nations 
engaged  in  it  are  bound  to  respect.  Recently  a 
great  nation  has  brought  upon  itself  the  condem- 
nation of  the  civilized  world  by  a  disregard  for  the 
regulations  thus  imposed.  Not  less  surely  does  a 
team  in  school  incur  the  displeasure  and  the  dis- 
respect of  other  teams  if  it  violates  the  rules  of  the 
game  which  it  is  assumed  all  teams  will  follow. 
"  A  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind  " 
is  an  impelling  force  in  making  individuals  and 
teams  as  well  as  nations  conform  to  moral  law  in 
their  behavior. 

Supervised  playgrounds  a  necessity.  —  As  teach- 
ers and  parents  come  to  appreciate  the  educative 
value  of  play,  supervision  of  play  at  school  becomes 
the  policy  of  schools  more  and  more,  and  supervised 
municipal  playgrounds  are  maintained  in  growing 
numbers  through  the  long  summer  vacations.  The 
advantages  of  supervision  are  twofold.  First,  it 
makes  possible  a  better  distribution  of  the  privileges 
of  the  playground.  Younger  children  are  given  their 
opportunity  to  play  appropriate  games  without 
molestation  by  thoughtless  and  sometimes  selfish 
older  ones.  To  secure  this  result  it  is  necessary  for 
principals  and  teachers  to  assign  different  portions 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL  CULTURE    205 

of  the  school  grounds  to  the  different  grades  or  age 
groups,  and  still  further  to  designate  certain  portions 
for  girls  and  others  for  boys.  There  is  an  increasing 
tendency,  too,  where  grounds  are  small,  for  dif- 
ferent groups  or  grades  of  pupils  to  be  given  their 
recess  or  play  period  at  different  times  of  the  day. 
One  group,  e.g.,  may  use  the  grounds  from  ten  to 
ten-fifteen;  another,  from  ten-fifteen  to  ten-thirty; 
and  still  another,  if  necessary,  for  the  quarter  of  an 
hour  following. 

The  second  advantage  is  that  the  supervisor  can 
really  teach  children  what  to  play  as  well  as  how  to 
play  it.  Though  they  have  the  play  instinct,  with- 
out guidance  it  may  express  itself  in  relatively  un- 
satisfactory lines,  just  as  the  collecting  instinct  is 
no  guarantee  that  pupils  will  busy  themselves  with 
profitable  kinds  of  collecting  unless  their  activities 
are  guided  into  proper  channels. 

But  a  more  obvious  advantage  resulting  from  the 
presence  of  a  teacher  or  supervisor  on  the  play- 
ground is  that  of  detecting  the  bully,  the  quarrel- 
some, profane,  vulgar,  or  other  child  who  may  ex- 
hibit qualities  that  tend  to  lower  the  standards  of 
the  group.  "  It  is  true,"  as  Colvin  and  Bagley  put 
it,  "  that  the  cheat  will  be  detected,  and  it  is  true 
that  under  certain  conditions  a  much  more  effective 
punishment  will  be  meted  out  to  him  by  his  fellows 
than  the  cleverest  supervisor  could  devise.  But  these 
conditions  do  not  always  govern  the  situation.  If 
the  cheat  happens  to  have  the  qualities  of  leadership 
he  will  infect  with  his  virus  a  goodly  following  among 
his  companions ;  and  the  evil,  which  is  bad  enough 
when  individually  expressed,  runs  riot  through  the 


206    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

entire  social  group.  It  has  been  found  that  un- 
supervised  playgrounds  in  our  large  cities  are  veri- 
table hotbeds  of  vice,  and  the  same  may  be  true 
of  unsupervised  recesses  and  noon  intermissions  in 
the  school.  Where  large  numbers  of  children  con- 
gregate, the  welfare  of  society  demands  that  a  re- 
sponsible adult  be  present,  with  full  authority  to 
check  in  the  bud  the  first  expression  of  a  dangerous 
tendency."  1 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  State  the  two  attitudes  toward  children's  play  and 
give  reasons  for  your  belief  in  the  correctness  of  one  of 
them. 

2.  Discuss  the  views  of  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  Quintilian 
concerning  the  value  of  play.     How  far  in  advance  of 
their  ideas  are  we  in  theory  today  ?     In  practice  ? 

3.  How  are  the  teachings  of  Froebel  modifying  the 
practice   of  schools   today  ?     Is   his   influence   extending 
above  the  kindergarten  ?    Illustrate. 

4.  What  useful  suggestion  comes  to  teachers  from  the 
big  place  given  in  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
to  the  gymnasium  and  all  its  physical  activities  ?     Why 
do  busy  business  and  professional  men  give  up  a  portion 
of  their  time  to  golf  or  other  forms  of  recreation  ? 

5.  In  what  respect  does  the  playground  offer  a  better 
opportunity  than  the  schoolroom  for  ministering  to  the 
moral  side  of  a  child's  life  ? 

6.  Cite  instances  that  have  come  under  your  personal 
observation    showing   the   playground    as   the    cradle   of 
democracy.     Think  of  its  place  in  democratizing  children 
of  foreign  birth. 

7.  What  can  the  school  do  to  foster  "clean  sport"  ? 

1  Human  Behavior,  p.  158. 


THROUGH   PLAY  AND   PHYSICAL   CULTURE     207 

8.  Is  there  sufficient   attention  given  to  the  athletic 
needs  of  all  the  children  in  the  schools  today  ? 

9.  What  are  the  advantages  of  supervised  playgrounds  f 
The  disadvantages,  if  any  ? 

10.  What  have  you  done  to  lead  your  board  or  your 
community  to  enlarge  your  playground  if  it  is  too  small  ? 
To  equip  it  with  needed  playground  apparatus  ?     Does 
a  rural  school  need   play  apparatus  ?     Give  reasons  for 
your  opinion. 

n.  What  suggestion  to  teachers  and  parents  do  you 
find  in  these  words  from  Jane  Addams :  "Much  vice  is 
merely  a  love  for  pleasure"  ? 

12.  In  what  sense  was  the  Duke  of  Wellington  right 
when  he  said  the  Battle  of  Waterloo  was  won  on  the  play- 
grounds at  Eton  ? 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

ADDAMS,  JANE  :    The  Spirit  of  Youth   and   the  City   Streets. 

Macmillan  Company. 
FORBUSH,  WILLIAM  BYRON  :    The  Boy  Problem.     The  Pilgrim 

Press. 

GRIGGS,  EDWARD  HOWARD  :  Moral  Education.  B.  W.  Huebsch. 
JOHNSON,  G.  E. :  Education  by  Plays  and  Games.  Ginn  &  Co. 
KING,  IRVING  :  Education  for  Social  Efficiency,  chapter  vn. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
KLAPPER,  PAUL  :  Principles  of  Educational  Practice,  chapter  v. 

D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
QUINTILIAN  :  Institutes  of  Oratory. 


CHAPTER  XV 

MORAL  EDUCATION   THROUGH   VOCATIONAL 
DIRECTION 

Modern  schools  train  for  life  work.  -  -  The  best 
schools  are  endeavoring  to  set  boys  and  girls  to 
thinking  of  their  life  work  even  while  in  the  grammar 
grades.  The  most  highly  developed  junior  high 
schools  of  the  present  day  have  come  into  existence 
in  response  to  the  demand,  in  part  at  least,  for  a 
richer  variety  of  school  experiences  that  would  do 
one  of  two  things  for  their  pupils  —  either  give 
training  that  will  better  fit  some  of  them  for  their 
immediate  practical  needs  if  they  must  get  into  the 
world  of  industry  at  an  early  age,  or  give  them  a 
better  opportunity  to  discover  their  special  talents 
and  native  bent  so  that  they  make  their  later  school 
work  minister  more  pointedly  to  that  end. 

Vocational  direction  in  Grand  Rapids  schools.  — 
Various  means  have  been  utilized  to  achieve  the 
same  general  result.  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan, 
e.g.,  has  long  been  famous  for  its  work  in  English, 
having  a  distinct  vocational  trend.  The  reading 
assigned  and  the  reports  of  the  students  in  class, 
whether  oral  or  written,  are  all  such  as  give  desirable 
information  concerning  a  large  number  of  vocations 
and  callings.  If  one  student  makes  a  special  study 

208 


THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION        209 

of  cabinet-making,  another  of  millinery,  another 
of  nursing,  another  of  civil  engineering,  another  of 
salesmanship,  one  of  landscape  gardening,  one  of 
plumbing,  another  of  printing,  and  so  on,  the  report 
of  each  is  listened  to  with  eager  attention  by  the 
whole  class,  for  each  one  is  making  a  contribution 
growing  out  of  reading  and  investigation  that  others 
have  not  been  privileged  to  do. 

Basic  moral  requirements.  —  But  whether  this 
vocational  work  is  done  as  a  part  of  the  English 
course,  or  as  a  distinct  course,  as  it  is  in  the  Junior 
High  School  of  Decatur,  any  detailed  and  analytical 
study  of  the  various  callings  of  men  and  women  will 
reveal  that  there  are  certain  basic  moral  principles 
underlying  and  common  to  them  all.  The  greater 
and  more  widespread  the  study,  the  clearer  the  lesson 
to  the  student  that  there  is  no  permanent  and  desir- 
able success  in  any  kind  of  business  that  can  be 
built  up  apart  from  character,  and  no  kind  so  humble 
in  its  nature  or  so  technical  in  its  demands  that  it 
can  stand  without  a  moral  foundation.  Many 
parents  endeavor  to  teach  this  very  lesson  to  their 
own  children,  but  when  pupils  learn  it  through 
their  study  of  the  lives  of  successful  men  and  women, 
through  a  first-hand  contact  with  business  and  pro- 
fessional men  to  whom  they  are  directed  for  informa- 
tion, or  from  the  letters  of  prospective  employers 
emphasizing  the  traits  desired  in  the  boy  or  girl 
wanted,  the  parents'  teaching  has  the  sort  of  reen- 
forcement  it  needs  to  make  it  effective  to  the  largest 
degree. 

Temperance  is  a  virtue  that  can  be  urged  upon 
many  grounds,  but  boys  who  are  about  to  find  a 


210    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

place  in  the  industrial  world  will  find  in  the  demands 
of  industry  one  of  their  strongest  motives  for  its 
cultivation.  There  are  scores  of  callings  absolutely 
closed  to  the  man  who  indulges  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks,  chief  among  them  being  railroad  positions. 
But  the  shops,  factories,  stores,  and  offices  that  will 
not  employ  a  boy  or  man  who  is  intemperate  are 
numbered  by  the  thousand. 

Truthfulness  and  honesty  are  easily  discovered  by 
the  student  to  be  essential  in  every  situation.  A 
dishonest  man  is  not  wanted  in  any  reputable  busi- 
ness. Even  promptness  in  paying  one's  bills  and 
meeting  his  obligations  goes  a  long  way  towards 
establishing  one's  reputation  and  insuring  his  success. 
There  is  no  form  of  security  that  reaches  farther  than 
character  in  the  conduct  of  business.  The  man 
who  habitually  makes  his  word  as  good  as  his  bond 
is  the  man  who  can  get  credit  when  he  needs  it. 

Courtesy  is  another  virtue  which  may  easily  be 
shown  to  have  an  important  place  in  most  callings 
and  professions.  There  are  clerks  and  saleswomen 
so  polite  and  courteous  that  they  make  shopping  a 
delight  for  the  customers  and  patrons  of  their  store. 
There  are  others  so  ungracious  and  so  inconsiderate 
of  both  their  employer's  and  his  patrons'  interests 
that  one  may  leave  their  counter  with  a  resolution 
not  to  visit  the  store  again  unless  compelled  to  do  so. 
A  certain  city  has  three  important  railroads  connect- 
ing it  with  Chicago,  and  the  train  service,  hours  of 
departure,  fare,  and  time  required  to  reach  the 
latter  city  are  almost  identical.  But  there  is  an 
agent  in  one  of  these  three  offices  so  superior  to  the 
others  in  courtesy  that  scores  of  people  uniformly 


THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION         21 1 

choose  his  road  for  making  the  trip.  His  courtesy 
is  literally  worth  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of 
dollars  to  his  employers  annually.  The  pupils  in 
any  class,  when  set  to  thinking  along  this  line,  can 
give  numerous  illustrations  of  the  same  general  sort. 

The  habit  of  smoking,  and  smoking  cigarettes 
particularly,  is  one  that  is  under  social  condemnation 
in  so  many  quarters,  that  this  fact  may  be  used 
with  boys  as  one  of  the  most  effective  arguments 
against  it.  A  boy  may  think  what  he  will  about  the 
innocence  of  the  cigarette  habit.  He  may  honestly 
believe  that  his  parents  are  unduly  concerned  about 
him,  and  that  they  are  prone  to  exaggerate  the  evils 
of  his  habit;  but  when  he  learns  that  many  em- 
ployers will  not  hire  a  boy  who  smokes  cigarettes, 
he  has  a  piece  of  valuable  information  that  directly 
relates  itself  to  his  habits  on  the  one  hand  and  to  his 
occupational  life  on  the  other. 

Punctuality,  fidelity,  dependableness,  industrious- 
ness  —  these  are  other  moral  qualities  easily  dis- 
covered to  be  among  one's  assets,  whatever  his 
calling.  Curtain  lectures  upon  the  value  of  these 
virtues  may  not  be  very  powerful  agents  in  estab- 
lishing them,  but  when  a  boy  learns  of  their  relation 
to  his  success  out  in  the  world,  they  are  at  once 
invested  with  a  sense  of  reality  and  importance  that 
they  did  not  have  before. 

Professional  ethics.  —  But  besides  these  moral 
prerequisites,  common  to  almost  all  successful 
callings,  there  are  a  number  of  virtues  essential  to 
success  that  are  more  or  less  peculiar  to  any  given 
calling.  For  example,  the  ethics  of  the  medical 
profession  requires  that  a  doctor  be  willing  to  keep  a 


212    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

professional  secret.  He  must  not  gossip  about  his 
patients.  It  is  almost  as  inexcusable  in  him  if  he 
discusses  matters  pertaining  to  his  patients'  diseases 
as  it  would  be  for  a  priest  to  reveal  to  others  secrets 
that  come  to  him  via  the  confessional.  In  like 
manner,  secretarial  positions  all  require  a  dis- 
creet silence  at  times.  One's  secretary  must  be 
entrusted  with  matters  which  can  not  be  publicly 
discussed.  A  secretary  who  has  not  learned  how 
mischievous  her  tongue  may  be  is  not  fitted  for  her 
position,  whatever  her  other  good  qualities. 

A  teacher,  finally,  need  not  be  superior  to  other 
people  in  many  respects,  but  she  can  not  succeed 
in  her  calling  unless  she  has  a  high  degree  of  patience 
and  of  sympathy.  Lacking  these  she  ought  not 
try  to  teach.  One  may  work  upon  wood  or  iron 
and  do  no  violence  to  these  materials  even  if  largely 
lacking  in  these  two  respects,  but  teaching  young  im- 
pressionable lives  calls  for  an  hourly  exercise  of  both 
patience  and  sympathy,  and  a  lack  of  them  upon  the 
teacher's  part  must  inevitably  be  to  the  hurt  of  the 
child. 

Initiative  and  self-reliance  may  be  shown  to  be 
valuable  qualities  which  contribute  largely  to  one's 
success  in  any  field  of  endeavor.  But  in  certain 
positions  they  are  indispensable.  Any  kind  of 
supervisory,  managerial,  executive,  or  administrative 
work  demands  the  presence  of  this  virtue.  Assuming 
new  responsibility  always  tends  to  develop  such 
latent  powers  as  one  may  have.  But  some  people 
are  born  to  be  leaders;  others  may  not  do  more 
than  be  good  followers,  and  do  faithfully  and  well 
that  which  is  prescribed  and  outlined  for  them. 


THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION         213 

Industry,  persistent,  everlasting  work,  is  easily 
discovered  to  be  a  moral  asset  to  the  youth  who  would 
succeed.  Lives  of  successful  men  nearly  all  show 
that  their  success  was  builded  upon  industry  as  one 
of  the  cornerstones.  Even  Edison  has  denied  that 
inspiration  has  been  as  big  a  factor  in  his  in- 
ventions as  perspiration.  The  most  valuable  type 
of  genius  is  the  genius  for  hard  work,  long  weary 
hours  of  it. 

Not  long  ago  I  rode  for  some  hours  with  a  banker. 
Our  conversation  was  soon  directed  towards  another 
banker,  a  mutual  friend  of  ours,  president  of  an 
institution  of  considerable  importance.  My  travel- 
ing companion  related  how  this  mutual  banker 
friend  had  always  been  a  hustler,  a  worker,  a  leader 
in  whatever  engaged  him.  "  As  a  young  man  on 
the  farm,"  said  he,  "  he  was  the  first  one  of  his 
neighborhood  to  husk  a  hundred  bushels  of  corn  in 
a  day.  People  used  to  come  for  miles  around  to  see 
him  do  it."  Examples  can  be  multiplied  in  any 
field  —  the  farm,  factory,  law  office,  teaching  pro- 
fession, pulpit,  commercial  enterprise  —  to  show 
that  industry  counts,  that  laziness  can  not  succeed. 

In  the  published  proceedings  of  the  N.  E.  A.  for 
1916  is  a  paper  presented  at  the  Detroit  meeting  of 
the  Department  of  Superintendence  by  Milton 
Fairchild,  upon  "The  National  Morality  Codes 
Competition."  In  his  paper  he  refers  to,  and  quotes, 
'  The  Code  of  Successful  Workers,"  as  formulated 
by  the  National  Institution  for  Moral  Instruction. 
Because  it  is  an  excellent  summary  of  just  such 
principles  as  we  have  discussed  in  this  chapter,  I 
quote  the  following  paragraphs  from  it : 


214      MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


The  Ethics  of  Work 

"This  'Code  of  Successful  Workers'  has  been  formu- 
lated from  personal  experience  by  many  men  and  women 
who  have  achieved  great  success  as  workers.  It  presents 
their  personal  attitude  toward  their  work,  and  reveals 
the  sort  of  people  they  have  striven  to  make  of  them- 
selves. It  is  true  and  reliable.  It  is  offered  as  a  means 
by  which  young  people  can  learn  the  requirements  which 
success  in  work  imposes  on  them.  Those  who  work  by 
this  code  will  find  satisfaction,  honor,  and  a  good  living 
in  the  world  of  work/' 

THE  CODE  OF  SUCCESSFUL  WORKERS 
Resolutions  they  make  for  themselves 

"i.  /  will  respect  all  useful  work  and  be  courteous  to  the 
workers.  Work  of  all  kinds  is  essential  to  the  success  of 
the  world,  and  benefits  come  to  many  from  the  service 
rendered  by  each  honest  worker.  I  will  respect  myself, 
therefore,  when  doing  any  useful  work,  and  show  respect 
for  good  work  done  by  others.  I  will  be  courteous  to 
all  workers,  regard  their  rights,  and  make  life  more 
agreeable  for  them  when  I  can. 

"  2.  /  will  know  my  work  and  have  ambition  to  do  it  well. 
I  will  keep  determined  to  succeed  in  work,  to  master 
some  one  line,  to  develop  aptitude  and  gain  skill.  I 
will  keep  my  mind  concentrated  on  my  work,  and  make 
work  my  chief  interest.  I  will  accumulate  knowledge 
and  experience. 

"3.  /  will  take  the  initiative  and  develop  executive  ability. 
I  will  use  business  sense,  have  courage  to  make  decisions 
and  go  ahead,  be  quick-witted,  well  balanced,  and  of  good 
insight.  I  will  be  adaptable,  and  make  all  I  can  of  my 
powers  of  invention. 


THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION         215 

"  4.  I  will  be  industrious  and  willing.  I  will  bring  en- 
thusiasm to  my  work,  be  energetic  and  quick  about  it, 
and  have  endurance.  I  will  be  punctual,  and  always  an 
attentive  worker.  I  will  be  patient  and  persevering, 
and  have  system.  I  will  keep  myself  in  good  health. 

"5.  I  will  be  honest  and  truthful.  I  will  regard  property 
rights,  be  economical  of  materials,  and  put  in  full  time. 
I  will  be  frank  and  honorable  in  my  treatment  of  others, 
and  preserve  my  personal  integrity. 

"  6.  7  will  educate  myself  into  strong  personality.  I  will 
develop  force  of  character  and  have  some  worthy  purpose 
in  life.  I  will  use  my  leisure  wisely.  I  will  be  well  in- 
formed, self-possessed,  self-controlled,  self-respecting, 
stable,  open-minded  and  teachable,  alert,  observing.  I 
will  be  quick  to  understand,  and  of  good  memory.  I  will 
use  my  imagination,  and  be  ready  to  take  responsibilities. 
I  will  gain  knowledge  of  human  nature,  show  sympathy, 
and  take  an  interest  in  people.  I  will  be  friendly,  cheer- 
ful, harmonious,  and  always  tactful. 

"  7.  7  will  be  faithful  to  my  work.  I  will  hold  to  high 
ideals.  I  will  be  reliable,  accurate,  and  careful.  I  will 
do  my  work  right,  for  the  people  who  need  done  the  things 
I  help  to  do.  I  will  be  thorough.  I  will  keep  my  word. 

"  8.  7  will  be  loyal.  I  will  take  pride  in  my  firm  or  com- 
pany, factory,  store,  or  farm.  I  will  protect  its  interests, 
and  help  to  make  its  work  successful.  I  will  be  unselfish 
and  obedient  in  my  service  to  my  superiors,  and  do  good 
teamwork.  In  professional  work,  I  will  hold  to  the 
ethics  of  my  profession.  In  an  institution,  I  will  be  true 
to  its  purposes.  I  will  be  devoted  to  my  home.  I  will 
be  loyal  to  the  people  with  whom  I  work. 

"9.  7  will  be  a  gentleman  —  a  lady.  I  will  keep  clean 
and  neat,  be  pure  and  of  good  repute,  courteous,  and 
polite  to  all.  I  will  form  wise  personal  habits. 

66  The  world  does  not  owe  me  a  living,  but  I  am  proud  to 
make  a  good  living  for  myself." 


216    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Conclusions.  —  In  closing  this  brief  discussion 
of  the  matter  it  would  seem  that  the  school,  even  the 
elementary  school,  must  be  charged  with  failing  to 
do  its  duty  if  it  permits  its  students  to  leave  the 
upper  grades  without  the  opportunity  to  face  some 
of  the  problems  presented  by  the  choice  of  a  life 
career.  Chief  among  them  must  be  counted  the 
moral  problems.  The  expert  psychologist  may 
determine  that  the  "  reaction  time  "  of  some  boys 
is  such  that  they  could  never  achieve  success  in 
a  calling  in  which  quick  and  accurate  responses  to 
stimuli  are  imperative.  Common  sense  may  serve 
to  keep  certain  boys  and  girls  out  of  vocations  for 
which  they  are  unfitted  by  nature.  But  the  school 
must  supplement  the  home  in  making  clear  to  every 
pupil  the  moral  foundations  upon  which  success  is 
built  in  all  worthy  callings.  It  must  place  a  pre- 
mium upon  industry,  honesty,  courtesy,  neatness, 
initiative,  self-control,  memory,  obedience,  a  proper 
humility,  punctuality,  and  temperance,  and  on  speech 
that  is  always  free  from  vulgarity  and  profanity, 
if  not  from  false  syntax,  because  the  possession  of 
these  virtues  multiplies  the  chances  for  success  in 
life  of  any  boy  or  girl  in  any  calling,  and  the  lack 
of  any  one  of  them  as  surely  detracts  from  his  chances 
to  succeed.  Earlier  in  his  school  life  delinquency 
in  any  one  of  these  lines  may  result  in  nothing  worse, 
apparently,  than  a  low  grade  in  deportment,  or  a 
more  or  less  severe  punishment  and  loss  of  privilege 
in  the  school;  but  in  life  beyond  the  school,  a  boy 
may  quickly  lose  his  position  or  fail  to  get  another 
because  he  is  morally  short  in  any  of  the  respects 
just  named.  There  are  weightier  reasons  for  em- 


THROUGH  VOCATIONAL  DIRECTION         217 

bodying  moral  traits  in  one's  life  than  the  reason 
just  offered ;  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
there  is  any  motive  more  impelling  than  the  life- 
career  motive  as  it  can  be  made  to  serve  for  their 
cultivation  in  boys  and  girls  of  grammar  school  age. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Tell  what  has  been  done  in  your  school,  or  schools 
under  your  observation,  to  give  vocational  direction  to 
pupils. 

2.  As  you  prepared  for  teaching  in  normal  school  or 
college,  did  you  find  that  your  knowledge  of  the  moral 
as  well  as  intellectual  requirements  of  the  profession  had 
any  effect  upon  your  moral  life  ?     If  so,  tell  what. 

3.  Report  upon  the  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  plan  of 
vocational  guidance.     (This  plan  is  followed  there  in  the 
high  school  rather  than  the  grades.) 

4.  Prepare  illustrations  to  use  in  your  classes  showing 
examples  of  success  that  have  been  due  to  unusual    ex- 
hibitions  of  some   one   or   more   moral    qualities.      Cite 
instances  of  loss  of  position  or  failure  to  be   promoted 
due  to  specific  weaknesses  of  character. 

5.  In  mathematics  a  series  of  factors,  of  which  zero  is 
one,  multiplied  together,  gives  zero,  it  matters  not  how 
large  or  how  numerous  all  the  other  factors  are.     Char- 
acter is  a  product  with  numerous  factors  entering   into 
its  composition.     Show  the  close  parallelism  between  it 
and  the  mathematical  law  just  stated. 

6.  Of  a  number  of  students  under  observation,  telling 
their  choice  of  a  life  career,  one  said  he  was  going  to  be 
a  banker  because  he  was  "fond  of  figures"  ;   another  that 
he  proposed  to  be  a  lawyer  because  "the  world  needs  good 
lawyers";    a  third  that  he  expected  to  be  a  civil  engineer 
because  he  loved  outdoor  life.     Tell  what  additional  vo- 
cational direction  these  boys  needed. 


21 8    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

7.  In  what  respect  is  one's  moral  nature  strengthened 
by  getting  into  the  vocation  he  ought  to  follow  ?  How 
is  it  weakened  by  becoming  an  "industrial  misfit"  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BLOOMFIELD,  MEYER  :  Vocational  Guidance  of  Youth.  Hough- 
ton  Mifflin  Co. 

DAVIS,  JESSE  B. :  Vocational  and  Moral  Guidance.     Ginn  &  Co. 

DEWEY,  JOHN  :  Democracy  in  Education,  chapter  xxm.  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

JOHNSTON,  EMMA  L. :  Vocational  Guidance  Throughout  the 
School  Course,  in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  645-648. 

KING,  IRVING  :  Education  for  Social  Efficiency,  chapters  xii  and 
xiii.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

PARSONS,  FRANK  :  Choosing  a  Vocation.     Houghton  Mifflin  Co. 

SPAULDING,  F.  E. :  Problems  of  Vocational  Guidance,  in  Pro- 
ceedings N.  E.  A.  1915,  pp.  331-335- 

WEAVER,  E.  W. :  Profitable  Vocations  for  Girls.  A.  S.  Barnes 
Co. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  AS  MORAL  TRAINING 

"To  earn  what  you  can;  spend  what  you  must;  give 
what  you  should,  and  save  the  rest  —  this  is  thrift." 

Reasons  for  teaching  thrift.  —  For  years  it  has 
been  a  matter  of  common  remark  that  we  are  an 
extravagant  people ;  that  we  are  a  nation  of  good 
livers  and  free  spenders ;  that  we  are  prodigal  with 
our  resources  to  the  point  of  wastefulness.  No 
people  of  Europe  knows  anything  of  the  lavish  and 
unregulated  freedom  we  enjoy  in  this  field.  For 
generations  there  seemed  to  be  no  good  reason  why 
we  should  be  otherwise.  So  long  as  forests  were 
opposing  the  advance  of  the  pioneer  settler,  and 
virgin  prairies  were  more  easily  broken  up  than 
worn-out  fields  improved ;  so  long  as  mines  seemed 
inexhaustible,  and  other  natural  resources  appeared 
boundless;  so  long  as  our  population  was  small  in 
relation  to  the  size  of  our  country ;  and  so  long  as  we 
were  a  rural  people  and  not  a  nation  of  city  dwellers  : 
we  did  not  feel  the  need  of  thrift  that  has  long  been 
felt  and  practiced  by  European  countries.  But  times 
have  changed  in  all  these  respects.  Today  our 
economic  problems  are  among  our  most  serious 
problems,  and  financial  independence  is  for  most  of 

219 


220    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

us  a  more  difficult  thing  to  achieve  than  was  political 
independence  for  our  Revolutionary  fathers  or 
religious  freedom  for  our  Colonial  grandfathers. 
Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  United  States 
was  it  of  so  much  importance  that  children  learn 
the  value  of  a  dollar,  the  art  of  saving,  and  the  no 
less  difficult  art  of  spending  wisely. 

The  duty  of  the  school.  —  Such  lessons  might  be 
taught  in  the  home,  but  the  fact  remains  that  they 
are  not  adequately  taught  there.  Civics,  patriotism, 
scientific  temperance,  personal  and  social  hygiene, 
manual  arts,  domestic  economy  —  all  might  be 
taught  in  the  home,  in  some  homes,  at  least,  but 
the  schools  undertook  the  task  of  supplementing 
the  home  teaching  along  these  lines  because  they 
finally  recognized  that  only  by  this  means  could 
"  all  the  children  of  all  the  people  "  get  the  training 
they  need  in  these  important  fields.  In  like  manner, 
and  for  the  same  reason,  the  duty  of  teaching  thrift 
to  every  child  is  being  urged  upon  the  public  schools 
today.  We  can  not  much  longer  refuse  to  hear  this 
newcomer  as  it  knocks  for  admission  into  our 
curriculum,  and  we  ought  not  if  we  could. 

Relation  of  money  to  spiritual  values.  —  It  was 
said  of  old  that  "  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil/'  and  so  it  may  be  still ;  but  it  is  just  as  true 
that  the  possession  of  money  is  the  basis  upon  which 
we  build  most  that  the  world  has  pronounced  good. 
Comfortably  furnished  homes,  good  schools,  good 
roads,  music,  art,  churches,  everything  that  ministers 
to  bodily  comfort  and  to  the  culture  of  the  spirit 
and  soul  of  man  in  civilized  society  —  all  require 
money.  It  does  not  require  much  imagination  to 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  221 

see  that  the  individuals  and  the  communities  which 
are  thriftless  and  penniless  are  invariably  backward 
in  their  development  along  all  these  cultural  and 
spiritual  lines. 

Of  course  we  are  not  foolish  enough  to  claim  that  a 
rich  man  is  necessarily  rich  in  spirit ;  or  that  a  poor 
man  may  not  be  found,  like  Lazarus,  resting  upon  the 
bosom  of  Abraham  while  Dives  calls  for  a  glass  of 
water  in  Hades.  But  we  may  say  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  and  the  kingdom  of  good  things  on  earth 
are  much  more  likely  to  be  filled  by  those  who  learn 
to  make,  to  save,  and  to  use  money  aright,  than  by 
tramps,  ne'er-do-wells,  spendthrifts,  beggars,  and 
sluggards  such  as  Solomon  directed  to  go  to  the  ant 
to  "  consider  her  ways  and  be  wise." 

Thrift  may,  therefore,  be  assumed  as  a  virtue 
which  the  schools  are  to  teach.  The  question  is, 
how  can  they  do  it  ?  What  can  teachers  do  with 

Erofit  ?     Of  course   no   cut-and-dried   rules   can   be 
lid   down,   but  the   few  suggestions   which   follow 
in  this  chapter  may  help  to  open  up  the  way.     The 
thoughtful,  resourceful  teacher  will  find  other  helps 
no  less  useful. 

Motion-picture  habit  in  relation  to  thrift.  —  To 
begin  with,  you  may  find  the  extent  to  which  your 
pupils  are  addicted  to  the  motion-picture  habit. 
The  amount  of  money  that  is  spent  by  children  in 
this  sort  of  amusement  is  wholly  out  of  proportion 
to  the  good  there  is  in  it,  and  equally  disproportionate 
to  their  ability  to  spend  money  upon  non-essentials. 
Children  who  might  be  excused  for  going  to  a  motion 
picture  show  once  every  week  or  two  not  infrequently 
go  two,  three,  and  sometimes  five  or  six  evenings  per 


222    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


week.  An  inquiry  addressed  to  eight  hundred 
students  in  a  high  school  not  long  ago,  asking  how 
often  they  go  to  the  movies,  brought  replies  which, 
when  tabulated,  show  the  following : 

78  students  do  not  go  to  motion-picture  shows 


77 
58 
54 

120 

66 

33 
10 
62 

36 

3 

39 

21 

6 

i 

17 
i 
i 

5 
i 
i 

5 


average    i  show  per  month 
2  shows  per  month 
3 
4 

6 

7 
8 

9 
10 
ii 

12 
15 

16 

18 
20 

21 
24 

25 
26 
28 
30 


2  others  go  nearly  every  day. 

It  will  be  seen  that  more  than  three  hundred  of 
the  seven  hundred  thirty-one  pupils  replying,  by 
their  own  admission,  go  to  more  than  one  show  per 
week,  while  one  hundred  forty-five  of  them  go  more 
than  twice  per  week,  and  several  of  them  from  three 
to  seven  shows  per  week.  Wholly  aside  from  the 


THE   TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  223 

moral  and  intellectual  values  of  the  pictures,  is  the 
question  whether  so  much  time  can  be  given  to  this 
sort  of  dissipation  and  amusement  without  detriment 
to  the  student's  health  and  standing  in  his  school 
subjects,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  nickels  and 
dimes  thus  spent  might  be  saved  and  later*  used  for 
more  valuable  ends.  In  our  cities  can  be  found 
many  parents  who  are  willing  to  be  rated  as  indigents 
that  the  public  may  furnish  schoolbooks  and  supplies 
to  their  children,  and  yet  from  their  meager  income 
they  will  dole  out  nickels  to  their  children  to  spend 
at  movie  shows,  or  for  peanuts,  candy,  and  other 
trifles.  It  is  this  condition,  indeed,  that  makes  it 
necessary  for  the  schools  to  teach  the  lessons  in 
thrift  to  children  whose  parents  seem  to  have  no 
conception  of  their  obligation  in  this  direction. 

Value  of  waste  products.  -  -  Teachers  can  show  in 
many  fields  of  industry  that  the  difference  between 
success  and  failure  consists  in  learning  how  to 
utilize  waste  products.  Many  lines  of  business  are 
conducted  upon  a  very  narrow  margin  of  profit. 
Utilization  of  former  waste  products  and  volume  of 
business  are  the  two  factors  which  together  spell 
success  in  such  cases.  In  the  packing-house  in- 
dustry, e.g.,  meat  is  the  prime  consideration,  and 
was  earlier  almost  the  only  one.  But  hides  for 
leather,  hair  for  plaster,  bones  and  entrails  for 
fertilizer,  blood  for  buttons,  and  hoofs  for  glue  have 
come  to  be  matters  of  great,  even  if  secondary, 
importance.  So  little  of  waste  is  there  in  this  in- 
dustry that  there  is  a  grim  truth  in  the  jest  that  the 
packers  have  learned  to  utilize  everything  about  a 
pig  except  its  squeal. 


224    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Crude  oil,  as  it  comes  from  the  well,  is  thick  and 
dark  as  sorghum.  It  looks  very  little  like  the 
refined  high-grade  coal  oil  and  gasoline  so  much  in 
use  everywhere.  In  the  process  of  refining  it  many 
substances  are  extracted,  and  most  of  them  were 
once  thrown  away  as  waste  products.  Today  they 
are  valuable  products,  and  include  such  commercial 
items  as  benzine,  axle-grease,  paraffine,  naphtha, 
asphaltum,  tar,  vaselines,  pomades,  ointments,  and 
drugs. 

The  cotton  seed  that  was  once  so  slowly  and 
laboriously  extracted  from  the  bolls  of  cotton  and 
then  thrown  away  is  found  to  have  a  great  commer- 
cial value,  and  now  finds  a  ready  market  in  meals 
and  oils  and  lard  compounds  all  over  the  world. 

Before  paper  manufacturers  began  to  experience 
difficulty  in  securing  enough  wood  pulp  for  their 
needs,  nobody  thought  that  old  paper  had  any  value. 
But  the  forests  have  largely  been  denuded,  and  trees 
enough  are  not  available  any  longer  for  making 
wood  pulp  from  which  most  paper  is  made.  For  this 
reason  there  is  a  universal  shortage  of  paper,  and  to 
overcome  it  people  everywhere  are  urged  to  save 
and  sell  their  old  paper  that  it  may  be  used  again  by 
the  manufacturers.  Even  the  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce, of  the  President's  Cabinet,  recently  issued  an 
appeal  to  the  school  children  of  the  country  to  assist 
in  the  paper  conservation  movement  for  the  good  of 
the  nation.  The  experience  of  one  city  in  compliance 
with  this  request  may  be  told  here  as  an  illustration 
of  the  possibilities  in  this  one  field  of  conservation. 

Waste  paper  campaigns.  —  Decatur,  Illinois,  is  a 
city  of  nearly  forty-five  thousand  inhabitants  and 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  225 

has  an  enrollment  of  nearly  sixty-five  hundred 
children  in  its  public  schools.  Through  the  en- 
couragement of  two  civic  organizations  of  the  city, 
the  schools  made  a  concerted  effort  to  gather  up, 
bale,  and  sell  waste  paper  and  old  magazines  for 
one  week.  Principals,  teachers,  pupils,  and  janitors 
caught  the  spirit  of  the  movement  and  entered 
upon  the  contest  with  zeal.  On  Saturday  following 
the  last  day  of  the  effort,  the  paper  was  hauled 
from  the  various  schools  to  a  central  spot  in  the  city, 
where  it  proved  a  remarkably  interesting  object 
lesson  in  thrift.  Neither  those  who  initiated  the 
movement  nor  those  who  participated  in  it  had 
anticipated  half  of  what  was  realized,  for  it  was 
found  that  from  fifteen  public  schools  and  four 
parochial  schools  had  been  collected  73,505  pounds 
of  baled  paper  and  32,355  pounds  of  old  magazines, 
a  total  of  105,860  pounds  or  nearly  fifty-three  tons  ! 
Bids  were  offered  by  a  number  of  dealers  for  the 
whole  amount,  the  highest  coming  from  a  local 
dealer,  who  wrote  his  check  for  $1014.56  for  it. 
His  estimate  was  that  it  would  require  one  whole 
car  for  the  magazines  and  nearly  three  cars  for 
the  baled  paper.  The  money  was  distributed 
among  the  schools,  each  receiving  pay  for  just  the 
amount  of  paper  it  had  collected. 

Besides  the  money  itself,  several  good  results 
are  traceable  to  this  cooperative  enterprise.  It  was 
a  "  clean-up  "  campaign  which  made  cellars  and 
closets  more  sightly  in  hundreds  of  homes.  The 
fire  department  of  the  city  saw  in  it  a  reduction  of 
the  city's  fire  hazard.  The  health  department  thinks 
it  was  a  good  sanitary  movement.  But  the  chief 


226    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

result  was  the  demonstration  to  old  and  young 
alike  that  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  paper  in 
the  city  annually  goes  up  in  smoke  when  it  is  really 
worth  saving.  In  the  future  much  of  it  will  be  saved. 

Thrift  and  school  savings.  —  School  savings, 
and  deposits  in  savings  banks  through  some  sort 
of  cooperation  between  local  banks  and  the  public 
schools,  is  another  effective  means  of  establishing 
habits  of  thrift.  This  movement  is  growing  in 
popularity  and  deserves  to  become  even  more  general 
than  it  now  is. 

Recent  replies  from  thirty-two  cities  having  some 
school-savings  system  reveal  eleven  different  systems 
in  operation.  Only  two  superintendents  out  of  that 
number  seem  to  think  it  makes  enough  extra  work 
for  the  teachers  to  offset  its  advantages.  That  the 
teachers  are  friendly  to  the  movement  where  it  is  in 
vogue  is  the  almost  universal  testimony.  Twenty- 
four  replies  state  unqualifiedly  that  school  savings 
are  growing  in  popularity  and  amount  in  the  schools 
that  have  had  some  system  for  a  period  of  years. 
One  did  not  reply  to  the  question,  and  seven  stated 
that  they  are  waning.  The  banks  receiving  the 
school  savings  are  reported  in  twenty-five  cases  as 
being  "  favorable,"  "  friendly,"  or  "  enthusiastic  " 
over  the  plan.  In  just  three  cases  were  they  reported 
as  "  indifferent/'  while  one  reply  indicated  ignorance 
of  the  bankers'  attitude,  and  three  did  not  report 
on  this  point  at  all. 

There  seem  to  be  very  wide  variations  in  the  ratio 
of  the  number  of  school  depositors  to  the  total  school 
enrollment  in  cities  having  school-savings  systems. 
One  small  city  with  an  enrollment  of  3000  pupils 


THE   TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  227 

reports  1500  depositors.  Two  or  three  others  report 
depositors  ranging  from  one  third  to  one  half  the 
enrollment.  At  the  other  extreme  are  systems  in 
which  only  about  one  pupil  out  of  twenty-five 
enrolled,  becomes  a  depositor.  The  median  expe- 
rience seems  to  be  one  depositor  for  every  four  or 
five  pupils  enrolled. 

The  reports  showing  aggregate  school  savings  per 
year  are  just  as  varied  when  reduced  to  a  per  capita 
basis ;  but  a  school  system  in  which  the  per  capita 
deposits  for  all  the  depositors  is  five  or  six  dollars 
would  have  reason  to  congratulate  itself.  Even 
two  or  three  dollars  is  not  a  discouraging  beginning, 
though  forty  dollars  and  more  is  reported  by  one 
city,  and  more  than  twenty  by  several. 

The  good  results  which  come  from  school  savings 
as  seen  by  those  having  experience  with  them  are : 
"  It  teaches  thrift  " ;  "  Increases  the  interest  of 
parents  in  the  schools  " ;  "  Many  pupils  continue 
their  savings  accounts  after  leaving  school  "  ;  "  Many 
children  save  enough  to  buy  their  books  and 
clothes  " ;  "  Encourages  them  to  establish  and 
maintain  bank  accounts  " ;  "  Interests  pupils  in 
saving  " ;  "  Teaches  the  habit  of  thrift  " ;  "  Pupils 
learn  business  methods  " ;  "  Acquaints  children  and 
their  parents  with  banks  and  their  uses  "  ;  "  Prevents 
spending  of  money  without  cause  " ;  "  Reduces  the 
amount  of  money  spent  for  candy " ;  etc.  Such 
testimonials  from  the  authorities  in  cities  which 
have  had  experience  with  systematic  school  savings 
are  sufficient  as  a  recommendation.  What  these 
schools  have  done  to  promote  habits  of  thrift 
other  schools  can  do  if  they  try. 


228    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

School  and  home  gardening.  —  The  promotion 
of  home  and  school  gardening  is  still  another  means 
of  accomplishing  the  same  purpose.  It  can  be  urged 
for  a  number  of  reasons.  Working  in  the  garden 
insures  a  needed  amount  of  sunshine,  fresh  air,  and 
exercise,  all  of  which  tend  to  promote  health.  It 
affords  an  opportunity  for  a  most  vital  sort  of 
nature  study  and  training  in  science.  It  fosters  and 
builds  up  habits  of  industry.  But  it  does  even  more 
for  children  in  making  it  possible  for  them  to  be 
producers  of  a  commodity  for  which  there  is  an 
increasing  demand  everywhere.  The  cost  of  living 
and  the  price  of  nearly  everything  we  eat  has  in- 
creased to  such  an  extent  in  recent  years  that  the 
receipts  which  may  easily  be  derived  from  the  sale  of 
vegetables  grown  in  a  home  or  school  garden  or  upon 
a  vacant  forty-foot  lot  are  not  to  be  despised.  Few 
children  and  perhaps  not  many  parents  realize  what 
a  small  garden  spot  may  be  made  to  yield  under 
favorable  conditions.  As  an  illustration  of  its 
possibilities,  the  following  paragraph  telling  of  the 
achievement  of  one  Decatur  schoolboy  is  submitted  : 

' got  permission  from  his  parents  to  convert  their 

back  lot,  a  forty-foot  one,  into  a  garden.  Then  from  a 
neighbor  next  door  he  secured  the  same  concession.  The 
two  lots  gave  him  a  total  area  for  garden  purposes  of 
about  4000  square  feet.  Carefully  preparing  the  soil 
and  fertilizing  it,  he  planted  it  in  vegetables,  principally 
tomatoes.  Throughout  the  summer  he  cultivated  and 
watered  his  garden.  As  his  harvest  tame  on  he  found  a 
good  market  for  it  among  his  neighbors,  who  were  pleased 
to  pay  the  highest  market  price  for  vegetables  fresh  from 
his  garden  day  by  day.  At  the  end  of  the  season  he 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  229 

found  that  his  gross  sales  were  approximately  $165,  while 
his  net  gain  was  but  a  few  dollars  less  than  that  amount." 

The  next  year  five  hundred  school  children  in  the 
same  city  entered  a  garden  contest.  While  no 
contestant  reported  the  same  degree  of  success  as 
that  of  the  boy  just  referred  to,  no  child  entered 
the  contest  in  vain.  The  movement  is  so  important 
and  has  so  much  to  recommend  it  that  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education  is  urging  its 
extension  throughout  the  country  and  offering 
practical  aid  through  bulletins  and  extension  workers 
whose  help  may  be  had  for  the  asking.  In  many 
cities  the  mayors  are  cooperating  with  the  school 
authorities  in  finding  every  available  vacant  lot  for 
garden  use  and  .then  in  bringing  the  right  boys  and 
lots  together  for  that  work.  Since  health  and 
happiness  and  habits  of  thrift  are  all  promoted  by 
this  means,  the  movement  is  one  that  deserves  the 
endorsement  of  every  teacher  and  parent  throughout 
the  country. 

Promotion  of  clubs.  —  The  promotion  of  corn 
clubs,  tomato  clubs,  pig  clubs,  calf  clubs,  and  still 
others  of  like  purpose  is  another  means  of  en- 
couraging thrift  in  rural  districts.  The  effort  which 
the  government  is  making  through  its  field  workers 
to  teach  girls  and  women  how  to  can,  not  only 
fruits,  but  many  kinds  of  vegetables  as  well,  is 
really  an  effort  to  teach  thrift  to  our  people.  Few 
more  striking  economies  are  within  reach  of  the 
average  family  than  that  of  canning  for  winter  use 
the  fruits  and  vegetables  which  are  so  much  more 
plentiful  and  lower-priced  in  their  proper  season. 


230    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Household  budgets.  —  In  connection  with  the 
courses  in  household  economics  or  the  arithmetic 
of  the  grammar  grades  valuable  lessons  in  thrift 
are  taught  in  many  schools.  This  is  sorely  needed, 
for  investigation  in  some  school  systems  shows  that 
only  about  one  child  out  of  one  hundred  comes  from 
a  home  in  which  household  accounts  are  carefully 
kept  and  anything  like  a  scientific  budget  of  expendi- 
tures is  adhered  to.  To  take  a  family  income  of 
ten  dollars  per  week,  another  of  twenty,  and  still 
another  of  thirty,  forty,  fifty  or  more,  and  try  to 
determine  what  percentage  of  it  may  safely  go  for 
rent,  for  food,  for  clothing,  for  operating  expenses, 
for  higher  life  —  books,  magazines,  entertainments, 
church,  charity,  for  savings,  etc.,  is  not  only  a  very 
practical  aspect  of  ordinary  schoolwork  that  will 
increase  the  interest  in  certain  phases  of  arithmetic 
and  household  arts  courses,  but,  more  than  that,  it 
gives  most  students  their  first  insight  into  the  very 
difficult  problem  of  adjusting  family  or  personal 
outlay  to  income.  It  is  just  about  as  true  of  families 
as  of  school  systems  and  business  organizations  that 
a  standardization  of  expenses  makes  for  efficiency, 
solvency,  and  peace  of  mind.  The  most  elementary 
lessons  in  thrift  as  a  practice  and  a  habit  require 
such  standardization.  It  really  matters  very  little 
what  one's  income  is,  it  could  easily  all  go  for  rent, 
or  for  the  table,  or  for  clothing,  or  for  travel,  or  for 
charity,  or  for  any  combination  of  these,  to  the  neg- 
lect of  other  important  appeals  and  obligations. 
Thrift  wisely  practiced  has  as  much  reference  to  wise 
spending  as  to  saving.  It  certainly  ought  to  result  in 
something  better  than  penuriousness,  stinginess,  or 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  231 

miserliness  on  the  one  hand ;  and  something  better 
than  the  gratification  of  Epicurean  desires  from  day 
to  day,  to  the  neglect  of  the  claims  of  the  higher 
'life,  on  the  other  hand.  '  There  is  a  happy  medium," 
says  Straus,  "  between  extravagance  and  penurious- 
ness.  One  of  the  evils  of  the  day  lies  in  the  fact 
that  many  of  us  live  far  beyond  our  resources. 
Jealousy,  social  ambitions,  business  rivalry,  personal 
egotism,  false  pride  —  all  play  their  part  in  the 
strife  and  the  stress  and  mad  rush  of  the  twentieth 
century.  Many  of  our  false  economic  conditions 
are  due  to  this  baneful  tendency  to  overlive,  to  over- 
spend, to  overindulge,  and  to  overplay  our  part  in 
life's  daily  round.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have 
those  citizens  who  are  cheap  and  tight-fisted  in 
their  habits  —  who  are  unwilling  to  reward  their 
fellow  men  for  work  well  done.  With  them  progress 
halts;  they  contribute  little  or  nothing  to  the  up- 
building of  the  things  that  are  worth  while.  Midway 
between  miserliness  and  extravagance  lies  the  path- 
way of  the  greater  thrift  —  and  I  say  that  it  is  in 
the  better  understanding  of  this  fact  and  the  applica- 
tion of  it  in  our  lives  and  in  the  lives  of  those  around 
us,  that  we  have  a  problem  and  an  opportunity." 

The  financial  value  of  an  education.  —  Since 
statistics  prove  that  there  is,  within  certain  limits, 
a  very  constant  ratio  between  education  and  income, 
teachers  in  the  upper  grammar  grades  of  the  ele- 
mentary schools  can  promote  the  cause  of  thrift 
by  teaching  the  facts  of  this  relationship.  From 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  exhibit  at 
the  Panama  Pacific  Exposition  the  following  was 
taken : 


232    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

EVERY  DAY  SPENT  IN  SCHOOL  PAYS  THE 
CHILD  NINE   DOLLARS 

HERE  Is  THE  PROOF 

Uneducated  laborers  earn  on  the  average  $500  per  year 

for  forty  years,  a  total  of $20,000. 

High  school  graduates  earn  on  the  average  $1000  per  year 

for  forty  years,  a  total  of $40,000. 

This  education  required  12  years  of  schooling  of  180  days 

each,  a  total  of  2160  days  in  school. 
If  2160  days  at  school  add  $20,000  to  the  income  for  life, 

then  each  day  at  school  adds  $9.02. 

THE  CHILD  THAT  STAYS  OUT  OF  SCHOOL  TO  EARN  LESS 
THAN  $9.00  A  DAY  Is  LOSING  MONEY,  NOT  MAKING 
MONEY. 

Health  in  relation  to  thrift.  —  Some  lessons  in 
hygiene  can  be  made  to  function  more  readily  by 
teaching  them  in  relation  to  thrift.  Indeed,  the 
National  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Thrift 
recognizes  that  this  subject  is  in  large  measure  one 
that  relates  to  a  proper  physical  education.  The 
teacher  who  forfeits  her  salary  every  day  she  is 
absent  from  her  school,  and  the  workman  who 
loses  his  wages  every  day  he  is  unable  to  work,  can 
appreciate  this  relationship.  The  parent  who  saves 
a  hundred  dollars  to  apply  to  the  payment  of  an 
installment  due  upon  his  house  and  then  finds  that 
sickness  in  his  family  takes  it  all  and  more  to  pay 
doctors'  bills,  has  a  similar  basis  for  understanding  it. 
The  wisest  thrift  certainly  demands  good  health 
and  good  health  habits.  Any  one  who  jeopardizes 
his  health  to  make  money,  and  any  one  who  un- 


THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  233 

necessarily  disregards  the  most  obvious  laws  of  health 
in  following  his  gainful  occupation,  is  unwise  and 
in  the  end  not  likely  to  be  thrifty.  Sickness  and 
disease  are  among  the  most  stubborn  enemies  of 
thrift.  They  make  doubly  difficult  the  accomplish- 
ment of  its  aims,  and  may  rob  one  of  the  ultimate 
enjoyment  of  all  that  thrift  succeeds  in  bringing. 
Many  a  man,  by  dint  of  great  industry,  self-denial, 
and  wise  investments,  has  succeeded  in  building  up  a 
fortune,  but  during  the  period  of  years  spent  in 
doing  it  has  so  transgressed  the  laws  of  hygiene  as 
to  break  down  his  health  permanently.  The  rest 
of  his  life  is  not  infrequently  spent  in  wretchedness, 
suffering,  and  fruitless  attempts  to  recover  his 
health,  for  which  he  would  gladly  give  his  last  dollar 
if  that  would  avail  anything. 

The  great  insurance  companies  appreciate  so  well 
the  relationship  we  are  here  discussing,  that  many 
of  them  are  engaged  in  a  campaign  of  educating 
their  policyholders  in  matters  pertaining  to  health 
and  hygiene.  Indeed,  some  of  the  periodic  literature 
issued  by  these  companies  is  superior  to  some  of  the 
textbooks  in  physiology  and  hygiene  used  in  our 
schools,  because  it  contains  only  minimal  essentials, 
with  nothing  else  to  distract  the  reader's  attention. 
Insurance  companies  encourage  thrift  among  their 
policyholders,  but  they  know  so  well  that  sickness, 
disease,  and  lowered  vitality  do  so  much  to  counter- 
act it  that  they  can  well  afford  to  spend  large  sums 
of  money  in  disseminating  information  and  encourag- 
ing habits  that  will  conserve  the  health,  and  increase 
both  the  productivity  and  the  longevity  of  these 
policyholders. 


234    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"  Saving  money  is  one  of  the  foundation  stones 
in  the  building  of  a  thrifty  character  —  but  it  is  no 
more  the  sum  total  of  thrift  than  one  stone  is  the 
sum  total  in  the  foundation  of  a  great  house.  A 
man  may  be  a  money-saver,  and  yet  if  he  dissipates 
or  is  immoral,  he  is  not  thrifty.  A  man  may  save 
money  —  yet  if  he  works  eighteen  hours  a  day, 
to  the  detriment  of  his  health,  he  is  not  thrifty. 
True  thrift  consists  in  the  judicious  use  of  all  our 
mental,  material,  and  physical  resources,  and 
when  we  merely  save  money  we  have  only  gone 
part  way." 

David  Starr  Jordan  has  been  quoted  as  saying 
that,  "  The  spirit  of  thrift  is  opposed  to  waste  on 
the  one  hand  and  to  recklessness  on  the  other.  It 
does  not  involve  stinginess,  which  is  an  abuse  of 
thrift,  nor  does  it  require  that  each  item  of  savings 
should  be  a  financial  investment ;  the  money  that  is 
spent  in  the  education  of  one's  self  or  of  one's  family, 
in  travel,  in  music,  in  art,  or  in  helpfulness  to  others, 
if  it  brings  real  returns  in  personal  development  or 
in  a  better  understanding  of  the  world  we  live  in,  is 
in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  thrift." 

One  of  the  phrases  we  often  hear  these  days  is 
"  learning  to  earn  " ;  another  is  "  earning  to  learn." 
Ambitious  young  people  are  doing  both  in  large 
numbers.  Habits  of  thrift  that  react  favorably  upon 
character  can  be  fixed  by  either  practice.  In  our 
colleges  and  normal  schools  no  students  command 
more  respect  than  those  who  are  self-supporting, 
working  at  anything  honorable  their  hands  find  to 
do  to  make  their  way  through  school.  But  this 
practice  is  not  confined  to  students  of  college  age. 


THE   TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  235 

Many  high-school  students  are  making  efforts 
equally  praiseworthy  to  complete  their  high-school 
course.  Wishing  to  know  how  many  such  students 
were  in  the  Decatur  high  school,  I  made,  an  inves- 
tigation recently  and  ascertained  the  facts  here 
submitted : 

"Approximately  one  out  of  five  students,  or  162  in  all, 
are  found  to  be  working  mornings,  evenings,  or  Saturdays, 
at  something  for  which  they  are  paid  amounts  ranging 
from  I5f£  to  $15  per  week.  Only  one  pupil  reports  earn- 
ings of  the  lower  limit,  and  one  the  higher.  The  news- 
papers, as  might  be  inferred,  offer  opportunity  to  the 
largest  number  of  this  group  of  workers,  employing  40, 
or  25  per  cent  of  the  whole  number,  in  part-time  service 
—  as  carriers,  reporters,  etc.  Twenty-nine  find  employ- 
ment as  clerks,  9  as  delivery  hands,  8  in  tending  furnaces, 
5  as  nursemaids,  6  take  tickets  or  serve  as  ushers  at 
motion-picture  shows.  One,  two,  or  three  find  it  possible 
to  earn  something  at  each  of  the  following : 

band  or  orchestra  engraving  setting   pins   in 

bank  clerk  lumberyards  bowling  alley 

bookkeeping          machine  shops  show-card  writing 

chauffeur  meat  market  soda-dispensing 

coal  agent  messenger  service       soliciting  magazine 

collecting  giving  music  lessons       subscriptions 

crocheting  picking  poultry          soliciting  soap  sub- 

dairy  work  playing  piano  at  scriptions 

doing  chores  Y.  M.  C.  A.  telephone  operator 

elevator  boy  pressing  clothes          tending  poultry 

shoveling  snow          waiting  on  tables 
wrapper  in  a  store 

"The  total  weekly  earnings  by  these  162  students  is 
$402.85.  For  the  school  year  of  38  weeks  this  gives  the 
very  respectable  sum  of  $15,308.30.  But  better  than 


236     MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 


the  financial  contribution  of  these  students  is  the  habit 
of  work,  of  self-reliance,  of  initiative,  of  thrift,  thus  ac- 
quired. No  other  student  can  ever  know  the  value  of  a 
dollar  quite  so  well  as  the  one  who  has  measured  it  in 
terms  of  actual  service  rendered,  and  hours  spent  in 
earning  it.  Such  knowledge  is  a  most  valuable  supple- 
mentary factor  in  any  one's  education.  Without  it,  no 
education  is  quite  complete. 

"Four  hundred  sixty-eight  students,  most  of  them 
girls,  worked  at  nothing  for  which  they  were  paid,  dur- 
ing the  summer  vacation.  About  300  others,  or  approxi- 
mately 37  per  cent  of  the  whole  student  body,  earned  and 
received  amounts  ranging  from  $i,  the  lowest,  to  $425, 
the  highest  earned.  The  total  earnings  for  the  group 
was  $16,097,  an  average  of  approximately  $50  each. 

32  students  report  earnings  from 
35 

19 

29 

22 
12 
26 

6 

18 

35 

Others  who  reported   did   not  remember  the   amount 

earned. 

"Combining  this  record  with  that  of  students'  earnings 
while  school  is  in  session,  it  appears  that  there  is  an  annual 
amount  of  $31,405.00  earned  by  the  high-school  students 
in  Decatur.  While  this  record  can  be  improved  through 
the  cooperation  of  parents  and  school,  still  it  is  rather 
encouraging  to  see  'earning  and  learning'  moving  thus 


from   $1.00  to  $10.00 

12.00 

20.00 

25.00 

30.00 

32.00 

40.00 

44.00 
52.00 
63.00 
72.00 
84.00 

50.00 
60.00 
70.00 
80.00 
90.00 

95.00 
above  100.00 

100.00 

THE  TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  237 

together  towards  the  realization  of  an  all-round  educational 
ideal/'  * 

Using  biography  to  teach  thrift.  —  Biography 
may  certainly  be  used  by  teachers  all  through  the 
grades  to  teach  the  lessons  of  thrift  effectively. 
Benjamin  Franklin's  Autobiography  ought  to  be  read 
by  every  schoolboy  before  he  leaves  the  grammar 
grades.  It  tells  an  interesting  story  of  personal 
achievement  in  industry,  in  science,  in  patriotism 
and  statesmanship,  but  more  pertinent  to  our 
theme,  it  tells  such  a  story  of  thrift  and  of  adherence 
to  well-defined  and  carefully  followed  rules  of  life 
as  make  easier  the  practice  of  thrift  by  any  one  who 
believes  Franklin's  life  worthy  of  emulation  in  this 
respect.  His  story  is  an  example  literally  illustra- 
tive of  the  scriptural  text,  "  Seest  thou  a  man  diligent 
at  his  business :  he  shall  stand  before  kings/'  for 
Franklin  did  stand  before  the  kings  of  both  France 
and  Great  Britain,  and  rendered  conspicuous  and 
patriotic  service  for  his  country  before  these  two 
courts. 

Russell  Sage  was  not  always  the  possessor  of  the 
millions  with  which  he  has  endowed  great  founda- 
tions, for  he  started  out  as  a  grocery  clerk  at  one 
dollar  per  week,  and  later  worked  as  an  office  boy 
at  very  low  wages.  He  attributes  his  financial 
success,  not  to  luck,  but  to  the  habits  of  hard  work 
and  the  practice  of  saving  some  of  his  earnings,  how- 
ever, small  they  were. 

The  president  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway, 

1  Published  in  the  Fiftieth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
Decatur,  Illinois,  and  in  Educational  Administration  and  Supervision, 
January,  1916. 


238    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

which  spans  Canada  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  is  quoted  as  saying  that  the  proudest  day  in 
his  life  was  the  day  on  which  he  received  his  first 
pay,  which  "  he  took  to  his  mother  for  her  to  bank 
—  not  to  the  ice-cream  parlor  nor  to  the  candy 
store.  His  first  job  was  that  of  office  boy  in  the 
purchasing  department  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee, 
and  St.  Paul  Railroad.  In  that  department  he 
learned  the  value  of  carefulness  in  expenditure,  and 
carried  it  out  in  his  daily  life  as  well  as  in  the  office." 
He  was  the  son  of  a  Milwaukee  policeman,  but  rose 
from  a  lowly  position,  often  called  a  "  blind  alley  " 
job,  to  one  of  commanding  influence  and  power 
"  chiefly  because  he  has  considered  thrift  the  greatest 
of  all  virtues." 

The  stories  of  John  Wanamaker  and  Edison  and 
Luther  Burbank  and  Booker  T.  Washington  and 
Garfield  and  Lincoln  and  scores  of  others  which 
can  easily  be  found  by  the  teacher,  will  teach  the 
same  lesson  of  success  achieved  through  the  practice 
of  industry,  self-denial,  thrift,  and  kindred  virtues. 
The  more  intimately  children  come  to  know  these 
lives  and  the  principles  which  actuated  them,  the 
more  clearly  they  can  see  that  success  is  achieved 
in  no  worthy  calling  by  royal  roads  or  short  and  easy 
cuts.  Hard  work,  great  labor,  economy,  frugality, 
self-denial,  persistence,  these  are  the  earmarks  of 
those  who  have  made  the  most  of  life,  whether  in 
amassing  fortunes  or  rendering  large  service  to  hu- 
manity in  other  fields  than  finance. 


THE   TEACHING  OF  THRIFT  239 


QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Show  what  factors  and  tendencies  in  American  life 
make  the  practice  of  thrift  a  difficult  one  to  establish 
today. 

2.  Is  poverty  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  an  individual  ? 
To  a  community  ?     What  determines  the  answer  ? 

3.  Show  by  comparisons  the  correlation  that  exists  in 
different  communities  between  wealth  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  hand  pay  of  teachers  and  preachers, 
length   of  schools,   kind   of    roads,   number  of    students 
going  to  college,  etc. 

4.  Make  a  local  survey  that  will  show  the  habits  of 
children  with   reference  to  spending  money  for  motion 
pictures,  candy,  chewing  gum,  tobacco,  ice  cream,  etc. 

5.  Find  how  many  in  your  school  have  bank  accounts, 
savings  in  a  building  and  loan  association,  or  other  prop- 
erty of  their  own.     What  can  the  school  do  to  encourage 
such  practices  ? 

6.  Make  it  apparent  that  either  hoarding  and  miser- 
liness or  reckless  spending  is  an  immoral  act. 

7.  Collect  information  concerning  successful  men  and 
women,   and   be  prepared   to   show  to  your  school  the 
means  they  used  in  getting  their  start  in  life. 

8.  Compare  the  moral  values  of  money  used  in  the 
promotion  of  legitimate  industry  and  that  used  in  getting 
an  education  for  service. 

9.  Is  a  man  who  comes  by  his  wealth  honestly  under  a 
moral  obligation  to  give  any  portion  of  it  away  to  chari- 
table,   benevolent,    religious,    educational,    or    other    in- 
stitutions ? 

10.  Discuss    the    thrift    suggestions    in    the    chapter. 
Add  others  growing  out  of  your  experience  and  observa- 
tion. 

11.  To  what  extent  have  the  schools  of  your  com- 


240    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

munity  utilized  the  government's  plan  for  promoting 
thrift  through  the  sale  of  thrift  stamps  and  war  savings 
stamps  ? 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BEXELL,  J.  A. :  Thrift  and  Its  Relation  to  Banking,  in  Proceed- 
ings N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  210^215. 

BLAKE,  KATE  DEVEREUX  :  Thrift  in  Its  Relation  to  the  Home, 
in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  220-225. 

DEMPSEY,  CLARENCE  H. :  Thrift  in  Relation  to  Industries,  in 
Proceedings  N.  E.A.  1916,  pp.  205-210. 

PRITCHARD  and  TURKINGTON  :  Stories  of  Thrift  for  Young 
Americans.  Scribner's. 

STRAUS,  S.  W. :  Thrift  —  An  Educational  Necessity,  in  Pro- 
ceedings N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  196-201. 

STUART,  MILO  H. :  Thrift  in  Its  Relation  to  Conservation,  in 
Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  215-220. 

WILSON,  ROBERT  H. :  Thrift  in  Its  Relation  to  Country  Life, 
in  Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  201-205. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SEX  INSTRUCTION  IN   RELATION   TO   MORALITY 

Consequences  of  sex  perversions.  —  There  are 
many  mooted  questions  concerning  the  need,  nature, 
extent,  time,  and  place  of  sex  instruction ;  but  there 
is  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  whole  problem  is 
intimately  bound  up  with  moral  questions.  That 
there  is  a  fearful  amount  of  immorality,  ranging 
from  vulgar  stories  and  jests  to  practices  of  mas- 
turbation, illicit  relations  between  the  sexes,  white 
slave  traffic,  and  prostitution,  all  due,  in  large  meas- 
ure, to  a  lack  of  proper  instruction  and  training  at 
the  right  time,  is  all  too  apparent.  Some  of  the 
effects  resulting  from  these  practices  are  the  birth 
of  illegitimate  children,  the  breaking  up  of  homes, 
crowded  divorce  courts,  spread  of  loathsome  venereal 
diseases,  children  born  blind,  wives  finding  pre- 
mature graves,  and  wrecks  of  human  lives,  with 
hope  gone,  seeking  relief  through  suicide.  It  is 
difficult,  indeed,  to  conceive  of  any  social  problems 
with  more  of  moral  significance  than  is  presented 
by  the  questions  and  problems  which  grow  out  of 
sex,  though  teachers  and  parents  seem  to  have  real- 
ized but  recently  how  serious  the  problem  is,  and 
how  very  important  is  its  solution  as  a  part  of  the 
program  of  moral  education. 

241 


242    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Changing  attitude  of  parents   and   teachers.  — 

For  generations  there  was  a  tacit  assumption  on  the 
part  of  refined  people  that  sex  matters  could  not  be 
discussed  with  propriety,  and  that  children  must  be 
kept  in  ignorance  of  every  law  pertaining  to  the 
reproduction  of  life,  to  insure  a  proper  amount  of 
modesty  and  chastity.  At  last  we  have  awakened 
to  the  fact  that  the  social  evils  mentioned  above  have 
all  flourished  under  that  sort  of  regimen,  and  that 
the  truth  taught  in  this  field  by  the  right  persons  at 
the  right  time  is  just  as  likely  to  result  in  a  beneficent 
freedom  as  it  does  when  taught  in  other  lines. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  why  we*  have  been  so 
long  in  seeing  that  children  have  not  remained  so 
innocent  of  all  knowledge  of  sex  as  parents  generally 
have  assumed  they  would  remain.  Of  many  things 
which  they  ought  to  know  they  have  be'en  ignorant, 
to  be  sure,  but  of  others  they  have  learned  from 
sources  that  polluted  both  thought  and  practice. 
Ignorant  servants,  the  "  hired  man,"  and  vulgar 
older  boys  have  been  the  gratuitous  and  often  as- 
siduous teachers  of.  children,  answering  their  ques- 
tions, and  volunteering  bits  of  information  about 
matters  both  scientific  and  sacred,  in  terms  and 
spirit  that  debauch  and  degrade  the  learner.  The 
remedy  for  such  a  situation  is  for  parents  and 
teachers  to  become  more  frank,  and,  without  be- 
coming immodest,  to  throw  aside  the  veil  of  false 
modesty,  and  teach  the  truths  that  children  ought 
to  know  when  their  curiosity  is  ripe  and  their  need 
is  recognized. 

Shall  mothers  explain  the  origin  of  life  ?  —  One 
of  the  first  questions  of  the  child  which  has  been 


SEX   INSTRUCTION  243 

answered  in  the  past  with  a  myth  or  a  falsehood  is, 
"  Where  do  babies  come  from  ?  "  For  the  parent 
to  reply  that  a  good  fairy,  or  the  stork,  or  a  doctor 
brings  them,  and  then  to  vouchsafe  no  further  in- 
struction, may  suffice  for  a  time  to  stop  further  in- 
quiry, but  it  will  not  be  long  until  the  child  will 
inquire  from  some  one  else  where  the  doctor  gets 
the  babies.  The  answers  he  gets  are  by  no  means 
such  as  to  minister  to  his  deeper  needs,  nor  such  as 
to  show  the  sacred  aspects  of  motherhood  nor  the 
beauty  of  right  conjugal  relationships. 

Some  mothers  have  learned  that  they  dare  to 
answer  such  a  question  with  the  truth.  Why  should 
they  not  tell  that  babies  are  born,  i.e.,  that  they 
grow  within  the  mother's  own  body,  are  tenderly 
carried  there  for  months  until  they  are  mature 
enough  to  be  taken  from  her  and  live  ?  The  interest 
that  may  be  awakened  in  a  child  for  an  unborn  baby 
brother  or  sister  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  see.  It  may 
be  made  to  react  most  helpfully  upon  the  child's 
relation  to  his  mother  during  the  anxious  months 
that  precede  delivery;  but  best  of  all,  the  question 
thus  answered  makes  it  unnecessary  to  seek  in- 
formation from  those  who  will  give  vulgar  and  dis- 
torted notions  concerning  a  natural  and  sacred 
phenomenon. 

Simple  biological  facts  pertaining  to  reproduction. 
—  When  a  child  develops  a  curiosity  that  is  un- 
satisfied by  the  mere  statement  that  babies  come 
from  the  mother's  own  body,  he  is  probably  pre- 
pared for  some  further  explanation  of  the  biological 
facts  pertaining  to  reproduction.  The  time  is  ripe 
for  an  approach  to  the  subject  through  analogies  in 


244    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

the  plant  world,  and  in  the  animal  world  below  man. 
One  of  the  most  elementary  facts  having  a  bearing 
in  this  direction  is  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  sex 
in  plants.  The  necessity  for  fertilization,  i.e.,  the 
union  of  a  generative  cell  from  a  grain  of  pollen 
with  that  of  an  egg  cell  at  the  apex  of  the  embryo 
sac,  and  the  wonderful  anatomy  of  a  flower,  with 
special  reference  to  stamens,  pollen,  and  pistil,  af- 
ford a  starting  point. 

For  the  students  who  go  through  high  school  and 
take  a  course  in  botany,  such  a  lesson  will  find  its 
place  as  a  part  of  a  normal  botanical  sequence,  but 
it  may  be  taught  even  to  grammar-school  students, 
and  children  still  younger,  in  accounting  for  the 
development  of  a  new  life. 

The  wise  parent  will  find  it  helpful  to  discuss  the 
facts  of  reproduction  in  fishes,  frogs,  fowls,  and 
mammals  to  teach  one  characteristic  common  to 
them  all,  i.e.,  that  new  life  starts  with  an  egg,  ovum, 
after  it  has  been  fertilized  and  not  till  this  happens. 
In  the  case  of  most  plants  each  flower  has  both 
male  and  female  parts,  the  pollen  being  transferred 
from  the  former  to  the  latter  to  start  the  new  life,  often 
with  the  help  of  insects  or  the  wind.  Among  the 
animals  named  there  are  males  and  females  of  their 
kind,  each  with  its  own  peculiar  function.  But 
whether  in  plant  or  animal,  the  essentials  for  the 
development  of  a  new  life  are  the  same.  In  frogs, 
the  female's  eggs  are  fertilized  by  the  male  just  as 
they  leave  her  body.  In  fishes,  the  female's  eggs  are 
fertilized  by  the  male  after  they  are  deposited  in 
the  water.  In  fowls,  they  are  fertilized  within  the 
female's  body,  then  laid,  and  later  hatched  by  the 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  245 

warmth  of  her  body  as  she  sits  on  her  nest.  In 
mammals,  they  are  fertilized  within  the  female's 
body,  but  retained  there  during  the  whole  period  of 
development  into  new  life.  Such  a  provision  on 
the  part  of  nature  insures  to  the  young  of  these 
higher,  more  important  forms  of  life,  of  which 
the  baby  is  the  very  highest,  the  maximum  of 
protection  and  care  during  this  critical  formative 
period. 

Sex  hygiene  for  early  adolescents.  —  The  early 
adolescent  years  marking  the  approach  of  puberty 
bring  with  them  new  problems  fraught  with  still 
greater  moral  bearing.  The  promptings  of  the  new- 
born sex  impulse  of  this  age  call  for  a  type  of  in- 
struction and  a  warning  that  are  unnecessary  and 
even  meaningless  to  younger  children.  Perhaps 
the  personal  need  of  boys  is  greatest  at  this  time, 
for  theirs  is  the  greater  danger  of  suffering  through 
ignorance. 

The  supremely  important  lesson  in  sex  hygiene 
for  boys  of  this  age  is  that  the  vital  procreative 
fluid,  semen,  corresponding  to  the  pollen  of  plants, 
is  essential  not  only  for  the  fertilization  of  an  ovum, 
but  its  presence  in  the  young  adolescent  is  a  pre- 
requisite for  his  personal  development  into  a  strong, 
robust,  and  virile  man.  It  is  this  latter  fact  that 
makes  the  secret  practice  of  self-abuse  a  hazardous 
thing.  Boys  should  be  taught  the  necessity  of 
bridling  their  sex  impulses  for  their  own  physical 
welfare ;  that  every  voluntary  act  resulting  in  a  loss 
of  fluids  so  vital  is  done  at  the  expense  of  the  whole 
organism ;  and  that  the  manly  qualities  which 
characterize  the  best  of  men  are  sacrificed  in  a  large 


246    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

measure  unless  there  is  a  conservation  of  this  fluid 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  youth. 

It  is  helpful  to  show  wherein  eunuchs  differ  from 
other  men  and  why.  With  their  testes  removed  in 
childhood,  they  not  only  can  never  become  fathers, 
but  they  can  not  develop  even  the  superficial  char- 
acteristics belonging  to  the  normal  adult  male. 
Their  voices  do  not  change  as  boys'  voices  ought  to 
change  at  puberty.  Their  beard  does  not  grow. 
They  remain  soft  and  effeminate,  lacking  in  the 
qualities,  both  physical  and  mental,  which  ought  to 
characterize  men.  All  these  masculine  charac- 
teristics are  made  possible  by  the  reaction  of  the 
seminal  secretions  when  they  are  permitted  to  re- 
main in  the  body  throughout  youth  until  they  are 
ultimately  needed  in  begetting  a  new  life. 

Personal  honor  to  be  developed.  —  Though  such 
a  lesson  should  be  taught  early  adolescent  boys,  it 
need  not  be  dwelt  on  at  length.  Much  more  im- 
portant is  it  to  shield  them  from  the  evil  influence 
of  vulgar  companions ;  to  encourage  them  in  an  ac- 
tive physical  life  and  acts  of  athletic  prowess ;  to 
give  them  clean,  wholesome  books  to  read ;  to  keep 
from  them  pictures  that  are  obscene  or  suggestive ; 
and  in  other  ways  fill  their  waking  hours  with  that 
which  inspires  and  ennobles  life. 

The  temptation  to  satisfy  sexual  desires  in  youth 
by  illicit  relations  with  the  opposite  sex  can  be 
offset  by  the  development  of  a  code  of  ethics  and  a 
sense  of  personal  honor  in  both  boys  and  girls. 
Society  has  placed  the  stamp  of  its  sternest  disap- 
proval upon  such  relationships,  for  excellent  reasons. 
Among  civilized  and  Christian  peoples  the  demand 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  247 

has  always  been  made  that  girls  be  chaste,  and  no 
other  sort  are  eligible  for  the  honorable  and  sacred 
estate  of  marriage.  A  different  standard  of  morality 
for  boys  and  men  has  come  to  be  repugnant  to  the 
sensibilities  of  the  best  men  and  women  alike.  No 
boy  has  a  right  to  take  liberties  with  any  girl  that 
he  would  resent  if  taken  with  his  sister  by  some 
other  boy.  If  he  is  manly  he  will  not  take  them. 

But  besides  an  attempt  to  develop  ideals  of  honor 
as  a  safeguard,  there  remains  the  necessity  of  taking 
such  precautions  as  may  lessen  the  temptation  to 
sexual  immorality.  Certain  games  played  in  young 
people's  parties,  public  dance  halls,  and  especially 
certain  of  the  newer  dances  bordering  on  the  inde- 
cent, are  all  calculated  to  inflame  the  passions  and 
make  chastity  a  more  difficult  thing  to  maintain 
than  it  ought  to  be. 

As  for  the  temptation  to  visit  a  red-light  district 
for  sexual  indulgence,  if  boys  of  the  early  teens  age 
were  made  aware  in  time  of  the  personal  risks  in- 
curred in  such  visits  and  of  their  possible  social  con- 
sequences, there  could  hardly  be  a  temptation  any 
longer.  Immoral  women  are  all  diseased  at  one 
time  or  another,  and  no  man  can  hope  to  visit  them 
and  escape  physical  contamination  with  a  loathsome 
venereal  disease,  sooner  or  later,  to  say  nothing  of 
what  he  does  to  his  own  manhood  and  self-respect 
in  seeking  a  dearly  bought  experience  in  such  a  place. 

The  testimony  of  physicians.  —  Physicians  state 
that  seventy  per  cent  of  all  the  blindness  in  the 
world  and  forty  per  cent  of  all  the  operations  upon 
women  are  due  to  venereal  infections.  How  any 
one  who  ever  aspires  to  be  the  husband  of  a  virtuous 


248    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

wife,  or  the  father  of  a  strong  and  physically  perfect 
child,  could  take  a  step  so  likely  to  cheat  him  out 
of  the  greatest  happiness  home  life  can  bring,  is 
difficult  to  understand.  The  sowing  of  wild  oats 
should  be  contemplated  in  connection  with  its  later 
consequences  —  suffering,  disease,  regret,  blasted 
hopes,  blind  children,  death  itself,  for  it  can  truly  be 
asserted  here  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  though 
it  is  too  often  the  death  of  innocent  wives  and  chil- 
dren rather  than  of  the  sinner. 

Who  shall  give  lessons  in  matters  of  sex.  —  The 
question  as  to  who  should  give  instruction  in  sex 
hygiene  is  not  easy  to  answer.  That  the  ideal  place 
is  in  the  home  is  generally  admitted.  But  the  fact 
remains  that  thousands  of  homes  are  incompetent 
to  give  it,  and  that  other  thousands  ignore  the  duty. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  social  workers  and  educators 
are  turning  to  the  public  schools  for  the  discharge 
of  this  delicate  duty. 

The  teacher  of  physiology  and  hygiene  has  an 
opportunity  in  her  classes,  but  it  is  limited  because 
these  classes  have  both  boys  and  girls.  Certain  as- 
pects of  the  subject  may  well  be  taught  in  nature- 
study  groups,  but  this,  too,  is  open  to  the  same  ob- 
jection. The  biology  teacher  in  the  high  school 
deals  with  older  pupils,  but  he  encounters  the  same 
obstacle.  The  physical  directors  and  athletic 
coaches,  dealing  with  boys  and  girls  in  separate 
groups,  are  free  from  this  handicap  and  if  capable 
can,  therefore,  give  valuable  instruction  in  this  line. 

Some  schools  have  found  it  profitable  to  arrange 
for  a  few  talks  by  physicians,  men  for  boys  and 
women  for  girls.  Their  more  accurate  knowledge 


SEX   INSTRUCTION  249 

and  their  wide  experience  give  the  weight  of  au- 
thority to  their  words  and  doubtless  produce  an 
impression  that  no  teacher  can  so  easily  make. 

Other  schools  have  found  a  way  of  approach  to 
the  subject  through  mothers'  clubs.  Where  these 
clubs  can  be  induced  to  take  up  a  study  of  the 
subject  this  solution  of  the  problem  seems  one  of 
the  most  hopeful  ones,  particularly  if  the  clubs  in- 
clude in  their  membership  most  of  the  mothers  hav- 
ing children  in  the  schools.  In  Decatur,  Illinois,  e.g., 
a  few  such  clubs,  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
superintendent,  studied  in  their  monthly  meetings 
for  one  school  year  Galloway's  The  Biology  of  Sex.1 
This  book  is  sane  in  the  method  and  matter  sug- 
gested, and  popular  enough  in  its  language,  though 
written  by  a  scientist,  to  be  a  profitable  guide  to 
parents  who  would  teach  their  children  but  feel 
their  unpreparedness  to  attempt  it.  The  results  of 
the  study  were  gratifying  to  all  who  pursued  it. 

Some  time  ago  the  Indiana  State  Board  of  Health 
issued  a  health  circular,  entitled  "  Social  Hygiene 
vs.  The  Sexual  Plagues,"  calling  the  attention  of  the 
public  and  of  parents  in  particular  to  "  the  direful 
consequences  of  sex  secrecy  and  the  obligation  of 
parents  and  the  state  to  protect  the  rising  genera- 
tion." No  one  can  read  this  bulletin  without  feel- 
ing that  both  home  and  school  must  soon  find  a 
way  to  solve  this  problem  or  permit  our  people  to 
suffer  the  moral  decay  that  has  overtaken  several 
older  civilizations. 

An  excellent  little  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Sex  in 
Life,"  written  in  1916  for  boys  and  girls  from  twelve 

1  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 


250    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

to  sixteen  years,  was  awarded  the  prize  of  $1000  pro- 
vided by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany. It  is  now  issued  by  the  American  Social 
Hygiene  Association,  New  York  City. 

For  teachers  much  help  may  be  found  in  a  pam- 
phlet issued  as  the  Report  of  the  Special  Committee 
on  the  Matter  and  Methods  of  Sex  Education,  pre- 
sented before  the  subsection  on  sex  hygiene  of  the 
Fifteenth  International  Congress  on  Hygiene  and 
Demography  held  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  1912.  It 
is  issued  by  the  American  Federation  for  Sex  Hy- 
giene, New  York  City. 

The  personnel  of  the  committee  —  Maurice  A. 
Bigelow,  Thomas  M.  Balliet,  and  Prince  A.  Morrow, 
M.D.  —  is  such  as  to  give  unusual  weight  to  this 
report. 

Some  generally  accepted  principles. --That  por- 
tion of  the  report  which  offers  a  general  outline  of 
a  plan  of  sex  education  constitutes  eleven  pages  of 
the  thirty-four  in  the  pamphlet.  Some  of  the  more 
salient  points  in  the  outline  are  herewith  quoted. 

"i.  Sex  instruction  has  a  purely  practical  aim  and 
should  be  strictly  limited  by  this  aim.  Its  purpose  is 
to  impart  such  knowledge  of  sex  at  each  period  of  the 
child's  life  as  may  be  necessary  to  preserve  health,  de- 
velop right  thinking,  and  control  conduct.  Its  aim  is 
both  hygienic  and  ethical.  .  .  . 

"2.  Sex  instruction  must  differ  in  one  important 
respect  from  other  scientific  instruction,  in  that  it  must 
not  seek  to  create  interest  and  awaken  curiosity  in  the 
subject  with  which  it  deals,  but  merely  to  satisfy  the 
curiosity  which  spontaneously  arises  in  the  child's  mind, 
by  answering  his  questions  truthfully,  but  only  so  com- 


SEX   INSTRUCTION  251 

pletely  as  may  be  necessary  to  give  proper  guidance  to 
his  conduct,  both  hygienic  and  ethical.  .  .  . 

"3.  It  follows  from  the  above  principles  that  detailed 
descriptions  of  external  human  anatomy  are  to  be  avoided  ; 
and  that  descriptions  of  internal  anatomy  should  be 
limited  to  what  is  necessary  to  make  clear  and  to  impress 
the  hygienic  bearing  of  the  facts  to  be  taught.  .  .  . 

"4.  The  purely  scientific  basis  for  such  instruction 
must  be  laid  in  the  biological  nature  study  in  elementary 
schools  and  in  the  more  systematic  instruction  in  biology 
and  hygiene  in  secondary  schools  and  colleges.  .  .  . 

"5.  It  must  be  supplemented  by  providing  proper 
physical  exercises;  by  insisting  in  the  home  on  regular 
hours  of  sleep ;  by  providing  adequate  facilities  for  play 
and  wholesome  amusements;  by  protecting  children 
from  the  unwholesome  associations  and  corrupting  in- 
fluences of  debasing  shows  and  immoral  literature;  and 
by  maintaining  the  confidence  of  children  in  their  parents 
and  teachers  so  that  signs  of  danger  may  be  the  more 
promptly  detected. 

"6.  The  purely  scientific  instruction  must  be  reen- 
forced  as  strongly  as  possible  by  ethical  instruction, 
both  direct  and  indirect,  with  due  regard  to  the  maturity 
of  those  taught.  .  .  .  Appeals  to  the  sense  of  personal 
self-respect  and  purity  and  to  the  instinct  of  chivalry 
can  be  effectively  made  in  the  earliest  years  of  adoles- 
cence, and  even  before. 

"7.  The  value  of  physical  exercise,  especially  in  the 
form  of  play  and  athletic  sport,  in  its  bearing  on  the 
control  of  the  sex  instinct,  is  so  generally  recognized  that 
it  needs  no  special  emphasis  here.  .  .  . 

"8.  The  period  from  six  to  twelve,  which  might  be 
subdivided  into  that  of  early  childhood  and  that  of  later 
childhood,  covers  the  greater  part  of  the  elementary 
school  period.  Here  the  school  must  share  with  the 
home  the  hygienic  and  moral  care  of  the  child.  .  »  . 


252    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"9.  Truthful  and  delicate  answering  of  the  child's 
questions  as  to  the  origin  of  the  individual  human  life, 
and  instruction  which  will  protect  it  from  forming  in- 
jurious sexual  habits,  constitute  the  chief  features  of  sex 
instruction  during  the  early  years  of  this  period.  Such 
instruction  at  this  period  is  best  given  privately,  and 
should  be  carefully  adapted  to  the  child's  individual 
needs.  .  .  . 

"10.  The  aim  should  be,  so  far  as  specific  sex  instruc- 
tion is  concerned,  to  impress  deeply  the  mind  of  the  child 
with  the  beautiful  and  marvelous  processes  of  nature  by 
which  life  is  reproduced  from  life,  both  in  the  plant  world 
and  in  the  animal  world.  It  is  not  necessary,  and  in 
most  cases  not  desirable,  that  children  should  make  ap- 
plication of  this  knowledge  to  reproduction  in  man  before 
the  beginning  of  adolescence,  further  than  that  the 
human  infant  is  developed  within  the  mother.  .  .  . 

"ii.  The  ethical  relations  in  the  home  between  parents 
and  children  and  between  brothers  and  sisters  should  be 
emphasized.  It  should  be  impressed  upon  every  boy 
that  every  girl  is  somebody's  daughter  and  usually  some- 
body's sister,  and  that  it  is  his  sacred  duty  to  accord 
her  the  same  respect  and  protection  which  he  would 
exact  from  another  boy  toward  his  own  sister.  It  has 
been  found  by  actual  experience  that  this  point  of  view 
can  be  made  to  appeal  strongly  to  boys  even  when  some 
other  points  of  view  do  not  appeal  effectively.  .  .  . 

"In  conclusion,  your  Committee  would  emphasize  the 
necessity  of  good  judgment  and  tact  in  introducing  sex 
instruction  into  schools.  It  should  not  be  introduced 
prematurely,  but  only  so  fast  as  teachers  can  be  found 
or  trained  who  are  competent  to  give  it,  and  so  fast  as 
public  sentiment  will  support  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
undue  weight  must  not  be  given  to  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing such  instruction  even  under  present  conditions,  in- 
asmuch as  even  occasional  mistakes  will  do  far  less  harm 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  253 

than  allowing  children  to  continue  to  gain  this  knowl- 
edge, as  many  of  them  now  do,  from  impure  sources  — 
receiving  a  pernicious  first  impression  which  induces  in 
them  an  attitude  of  mind  toward  the  subject  that  makes 
it  extremely  difficult  later  to  give  them  the  best  instruc- 
tion. In  not  a  few  such  cases  subsequent  sound  teach- 
ing is  practically  fruitless." 

The  excerpts  quoted  in  the  foregoing  paragraphs 
constitute  a  summary  of  the  most  important  judg- 
ments that  have  been  expressed  with  reference  to 
sex  instruction.  They  leave  much  by  way  of 
specific  direction  to  be  desired,  but  no  parent  or 
teacher  can  go  far  afield  in  this  vital  matter  if  he 
permits  himself  to  be  guided  by  such  principles. 

As  a  closing  word  it  seems  in  place  to  suggest  once 
more  the  fact  that  whether  sex  instruction  is  to  re- 
sult in  something  noble  or  ignoble  depends  not  so 
much  upon  when  it  is  given,  nor  at  what  age  the 
child  receives  it,  but  that  it  does  matter  tremendously 
whether  sex  knowledge  is  learned  from  vulgar  sources, 
or  from  pure-minded  men  and  women  who  approach 
the  subject  with  a  reverent  regard  for  its  importance 
and  a  desire  to  have  the  boy  or  girl  as  reverently 
learn  what  he  ought  to  know. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Why  have  homes   and   schools   failed   to   give  the 
definite  sex  instruction  which  it  is  now  generally  agreed 
children  ought  to  have  ?     Account  for  the  more  recent 
changed  attitude  concerning  the  matter. 

2.  To  what   extent   is   ignorance   responsible   for   the 
misery,  disease,  and  immorality  resulting  from  abnormal 
sex  relationships  ? 


254    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

3.  Does    knowledge    of   sex    reverently    learned    from 
proper  sources  tend  in  any  way  to  make  the  learner  less 
modest  ?     Does  ignorance  tend  to  make  him  in  any  way 
more  virtuous  ?     Discuss. 

4.  Is  coeducation  in  high  school  helpful  or  hurtful  in 
maintaining   standards   of  sex   morality  ?     Give   reasons 
for  your  answer.     Is  the  attitude  towards  the  opposite 
sex  any  more  rational  in  a  girls'  school  than  in  a  coedu- 
cational school  ?     Is  there  a  finer  personal  honor  in  the 
boys  of  a  boys'  school  than  in  the  boys  of  a  mixed  school  ? 

5.  Write  out  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts  you  think 
an  adolescent  should  be  taught  concerning  the  sex  life. 
If  necessary,  consult  Galloway's  Biology  of  Sex,  or  some 
other  similar  source  of  information. 

6.  What  are  the  advantages  in,  and  the  objections  to, 
having  sex  instruction  given  by  the  home,  the  physician, 
the   elementary   school   teacher,   the   physical   education 
director,  the  teacher  of  biology  in  the  high  school,  re- 
spectively ? 

7.  Consult  the  health  board  of  your  community  for 
information  concerning  the  sex  hygiene  and  habits  of  its 
young  people. 


REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BALLIET,  THOMAS  M. :    Sex  Hygiene  and  Sex  Morality  as  the 

Aim  of  Sex  Education,  in  Proceedings  N.  E.A.  1915,  pp. 

148-152. 
BLOUNT,  RALPH  E. :    The  Responsibility  of  the  Teacher  with 

Regard  to  the  Teaching  of  Sex  Hygiene,  in  Proceedings 

N.  E.A.  1914,  pp.  470-475- 
FORBUSH,  WILLIAM  BYRON:  The  Boy  Problem,  pp.   147-152. 

The  Pilgrim  Press. 

GALLOWAY,  T.  W. :  Biology  of  Sex.     D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 
GALLOWAY,  T.  W. :    Sex  Instruction,    in    Proceedings   N.  E.  A. 
3>  PP-  640-647. 


SEX  INSTRUCTION  255 

GRIGGS,  EDWARD  HOWARD  :  Moral  Education.     B.  W.  Huebsch. 
PEABODY,  JAMES  E. :    Some  Experiments  in  Sex  Education,  in 

Proceedings  N.  E.  A.  1914,  pp.  475-481. 
SNEATH  and  HODGES  :  Mora!  Training  in  the  School  and  Home, 

pp.  39-54.     Macmillan  Co. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

BOY  SCOUTING  AS  A  FACTOR  IN  MORAL  TRAINING 

Cooperation  between  schools  and  other  educative 
agencies.  —  One  of  the  most  promising  facts  about 
the  public  schools  of  today  is  that  they  are  trying  to 
utilize  and  correlate  the  educative  work  of  a  large 
number  of  agencies  which  they  once  ignored.  In 
various  cities  cooperative  arrangements  are  made 
whereby  students  may  alternate  their  formal  school 
work  with  work  in  shop,  factory,  office,  or  store. 
In  this  way  pupils  get  the  most  valuable  vocational 
training  possible  for  them  and  at  the  same  time 
have  the  most  potent  motive  for  effective  school 
work.  Cincinnati  is  a  good  example  of  a  city  which 
has  been  most  successful  in  developing  this  sort  of 
reciprocity  between  school  and  industry. 

In  other  places  the  schools  have  recognized  the 
churches  and  Sunday  schools  as  allies  of  a  helpful 
sort,  capable  of  doing  a  work  that  ought  to  be  done, 
yet  one  which  the  schools  can  not  do  so  well,  if  at 
all.  In  many  places  the  schools  have  been  able 
to  recognize  and  to  credit  the  moral  and  religious 
teaching  and  training  thus  done  by  the  church. 

In  still  other  places  the  musical  tastes  and  inter- 
ests of  children  are  fostered  through  giving  them 
school  credit  for  work  done  in  music  under  approved 

256 


BOY  SCOUTING  257 

teachers  not  connected  with  the  schools.  In  other 
words,  leading  school  systems  are  endeavoring  to 
capitalize  the  numerous  agencies  which  touch  child 
life  in  helpful  ways,  because  they  recognize  more 
and  more  clearly  that  education  in  the  broad  sense 
is  a  life  process,  and  not  a  mere  matter  of  intel- 
lectual training  within  the  four  walls  of  a  schoolroom. 

Recognition  of  the  Scout  movement  by  the 
N.  E.  A.  —  Most  significant  among  the  innovations 
just  suggested  is  the  recognition  of  the  educative  pos- 
sibilities of  the  Boy  Scout  movement.  One  evidence 
of  this  is  the  place  that  was  given  to  its  discussion  in 
a  recent  meeting  of  the  National  Education  Associ- 
ation. Another  is  the  appearance  of  some  notable 
articles  upon  Boy  Scouting  in  leading  educational 
journals  by  such  leaders  among  school  men  as  Dean 
Russell l  and  Professor  Snedden.1 

Relation  of  Scouting  to  formal  school  work.  — 
No  one  sees  in  the  Scout  movement  anything  that 
can  supplant  the  work  of  the  schools,  but  it  is  prov- 
ing a  most  valuable  supplement  to  them,  and  seems 
especially  strong  where  the  schools  are  weakest, 
i.e.,  in  giving  moral  training  of  a  dynamic  sort.  As 
Dean  Russell  has  pointed  out :  "  The  scout  program 
is  essentially  moral  training  for  the  sake  of  efficient 
democratic  citizenship.  It  gives  definite  embodi- 
ment to  the  ideals  of  the  school,  and  supplements 
the  efforts  of  home  and  church.  It  works  adroitly, 
by  a  thousand  specific  habits,  to  anchor  a  boy  to 
modes  of  right  living  as  securely  as  if  held  by  chains 
of  steel ;  but  best  of  all,  it  exhibits  positive  genius 

1  See  Educational  Review,  June,  1917,  and  Teachers  College  Record, 
January,  1917. 


258    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

in  devising  situations  that  test  a  boy's  self-reliance 
and  give  full  scope  to  his  talents  for  originality  and 
leadership." 

A  statement  of  aims.  —  Perhaps  we  should  ex- 
pect to  find  in  the  literature  of  the  organization  the 
best  statement  of  its  aims.  Hence  we  quote  from 
the  Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Boy  Scouts  of 
America  as  follows : 

"The  aim  of  the  Scout  Movement  is  to  inculcate  char- 
acter, which,  though  essential  to  success  in  life,  is  not 
taught  within  the  school,  and  being  largely  a  matter  of 
environment  is  too  generally  left  to  chance,  often  with 
deplorable  results.  The  Scout  Movement  endeavors  to 
supply  the  required  environment  and  ambitions  through 
games  and  outdoor  activities,  which  lead  a  boy  to  become 
a  better  man,  a  good  citizen." 

WHAT  SCOUTING  MEANS 

"Scouting  means  outdoor  life  and  so  health,  strength, 
happiness,  and  practical  education.  By  combining  whole- 
some, attractive  outdoor  activities  with  the  influence  of 
the  Scout  Oath  and  Law  the  Movement  develops  character. 

"It  develops  the  power  of  initiative  and  resourcefulness. 

"It  helps  boys. 

"It  insures  good  citizenship. 

"The  Boy  Scout  Movement  healthfully  and  sanely 
offsets  the  disadvantages  which  civilization  has  caused." 

THE  SCOUT  OATH 

"Before  he  becomes  a  Scout  a  boy  must  promise: 
"'On  my  honor  I  will  do  my  best  — 
"'i.    To  do  my  duty  to  God  and  my  country  and  to 
obey  the  Scout  law ; 


BOY   SCOUTING  259 

"2.    To  help  other  people  at  all  times; 
"'3.    To  keep  myself  physically  strong,  mentally  awake, 
and  morally  straight."3 

THE  SCOUT  LAW 

"i.    A  Scout  is  trustworthy. 

"A   Scout's   honor   is   to   be   trusted.     If  he   were   to 
violate  his  honor  by  telling  a  lie,  or  by  cheating,  or  by 
not   doing   exactly   a   given   task,   when   trusted   on   his 
honor,  he  may  be  directed  to  hand  over  his  scout  badge. 
"2.    A  Scout  is  loyal. 

"He  is  loyal  to  all  to  whom  loyalty  is  due:    his  scout 
leader,  his  home,  and  parents  and  country. 
"3.    A  Scout  is  helpful. 

"He  must  be  prepared  at  any  time  to  save  life,  help 
injured  persons,  and  share  the  home  duties.     He  must  do 
at  least  one  good  turn  to  somebody  every  day. 
"4.    A  Scout  is  friendly. 

"He  is  a  friend  to  all  and  a  brother  to  every  other 
Scout. 
"5.    A  Scout  is  courteous. 

"He  is  polite  to  all,  especially  to  women,  children,  old 
people,   and  the  weak   and  helpless.     He  must  not  take 
pay  for  being  helpful  or  courteous. 
"6.   A  Scout  is  kind. 

"He  is  a  friend  to  animals.     He  will  not  kill  nor  hurt 
any  living  creature  needlessly,  but  will  strive  to  save  and 
protect  all  harmless  life. 
"7.    A  Scout  is  obedient. 

"He  obeys  his  parents,  scoutmaster,  patrol  leader,  and 
all  other  duly  constituted  authorities. 
"8.    A  Scout  is  cheerful. 

"He  smiles  whenever  he  can.  His  obedience  to  orders 
is  prompt  and  cheery.  He  never  shirks  nor  grumbles  at 
hardships. 


260    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"9.    A  Scout  is  thrifty. 

"He  does  not  wantonly  destroy  property.  He  works 
faithfully,  wastes  nothing,  and  makes  the  best  use  of  his 
opportunities.  He  saves  his  money  so  that  he  may  pay 
his  own  way,  be  generous  to  those  in  need,  and  helpful 
to  worthy  objects. 

"He  may  work  for  pay,  but  must  not  receive  tips  for 
courtesies  or  good  turns. 
"10.    A  Scout  is  brave. 

"He  has  the  courage  to  face  danger  in  spite  of  fear,  and 
has  to  stand   up  for  the  right   against  the  coaxings  of 
friends  or  the  jeers  or  threats  of  enemies,  and  the  defeat 
does  not  down  him. 
"n.    A  Scout  is  clean. 

"He  keeps  clean  in  body  and  thought,  stands  for  clean 
speech,  clean  sport,  clean  habits,  and  travels  with  a  clean 
crowd. 
"12.    A  Scout  is  reverent. 

"He  is  reverent  toward  God.  He  is  faithful  in  his 
religious  duties,  and  respects  the  convictions  of  others 
in  matters  of  custom  and  religion/5 

It  will  be  seen  from  a  statement  of  the  twelve 
laws  which  every  Scout  promises  to  obey  when  he 
takes  the  Scout  Oath,  that  the  whole  program  of 
action  is  a  positive  one.  It  is  based  upon  sound 
psychology.  Any  parent,  any  teacher,  and  any 
organization  which  can  succeed  in  inducing  boys  to 
regulate  their  lives  in  accordance  with  such  laws  has 
largely  solved  the  problem  of  character-building. 
Forbidden  fruits  and  negative  commands,  "thou- 
shalt-nots,"  have  no  place  in  this  series.  The  empha- 
sis is  all  upon  the  virtues  to  be  incorporated  into  life. 

Illustrations  of  "  good  turns."  -  If  we  take  the 
one  injunction,  "  Do  a  good  turn  daily,"  and  read 


BOY  SCOUTING  261 

reports  from  different  scout  organizations,  telling  the 
specific  ways  in  which  this  law  was  obeyed  within 
the  past  year,  its  far-reaching  effect  may  be  better 
understood.  The  following  are  typical,  and  are  all 
taken  from  the  last  annual  report  of  the  organiza- 
tion, as  submitted  in  New  York  City,  March  14, 1917  : 

"Assisted  in  Clean-Up  Campaigns.  —  Conducted  suc- 
cessful campaign  during  city  clean-up  week.  One  thou- 
sand circulars  distributed  in  neighborhood,  displayed  300 
posters,  and  reported  objectionable  places  to  Health 
Department,  20  boys  of  troops  took  part,  and  each  set 
an  example  in  his  own  district.  (Buffalo,  N.  Y.) 

"Performed  Charity  Work.  —  Carried  flowers  to  hos- 
pitals, magazines  and  papers  to  asylum  for  poor  and 
hospitals.  Furnished  supplies  to  a  needy  family.  (Mem- 
phis, Tenn.) 

"Kindness  to  Animals. — The  boys  held  a  bird-house 
building  contest  and  put  the  houses  up  in  those  places 
where  the  birds  would  not  be  molested.  (Roselle,  N.  J.) 

"  Searched  for  Lost  Persons.  — On  January  4th  and  6th 
Scouts  were  a  part  of  large  civic  body  who  engaged  in  a 
search  for  the  late  Mayor  of  Waltham,  Thomas  E.  Kearns, 
who  disappeared  and  was  later  found  under  ice  in  river. 
(West  Newton,  Mass.) 

"Acted  as  Guides  or  Escorts.  —  During  the  year  we 
have  served  as  escort  to  Spanish  War  Veterans,  G.  A.  R. 
Veterans,  and  8th  Regiment,  M.  V.  M.  (Somerville, 
Mass.)  Ushered  when  President  Wilson  was  in  St. 
Louis.  Took  care  of  the  traffic  when  "Liberty  Bell" 
passed  through  here.  Served  as  guides  for  Southwestern 
Division  State  Teachers'  meetings  here  last  spring.  (East 
St.  Louis,  111.) 

"Assisted  Church. — The  troop  pledge  $100  towards 
the  building  of  a  new  church  parish  house.  (West  Haven, 
Conn.) 


262    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"Assisted  in  Public  Functions.  —  Carried  and  guarded 
Japan  Day  Flag,  P.O.I.  E.,  August  31,  1915;  guided  the 
children  and  their  parents  from  other  sections  of  the  state 
through  the  exposition  grounds,  July  16-18,  1915.  Sold 
two  hundred  memorial  flags  and  raised  twenty  dollars 
for  the  Home  Industry  Association  in  Japan.  (San 
Francisco,  Cal.) 

"Assisted  in  Safety  First  Campaign.  —  Elmer  Tice  dis- 
covered a  broken  rail  and  informed  the  agent  at  the 
depot.  (Greenville,  111.) 

"Memorial  Day. — Assisted  the  G.  A.  R.  in  their  pre- 
paredness program.  Assisted  the  Confederate  Veter- 
ans on  several  occasions.  Served  the  City  Council  on 
several  occasions.  Participated  in  several  parades,  be- 
sides the  individuals  whom  we  have  served,  and  in  each 
instance  proved  very  satisfactory.  (Natchez,  Miss.) 

"Fourth  of  July.  —  July  4th  we  had  two  first-aid 
stations  along  the  line  of  march  of  the  municipal  parade, 
two  patients  were  treated  at  one  of  the  stations.  (Bridge- 
port, Conn.) 

"Labor  Day.  —  Labor  Day  celebration,  taking  water 
and  other  refreshments  to  veterans,  firemen,  etc.  (Pitts- 
field,  Mass.) 

"Assisted  Poor  or  Aged  People.  —  Upon  learning  of  the 
serious  illness  of  a  poor  farmer  in  the  community,  and 
knowing  that  his  cotton,  which  was  his  dependence  for 
sustenance,  needed  immediate  gathering,  the  entire  troop, 
without  even  consulting  the  Scoutmaster,  gathered  his 
cotton  and  placed  it  in  safe  storage  for  him.  This  re- 
quired 'real  work'  of  the  Scouts.  (Oxford,  Ala.) 

"Assisted  at  Municipal  Christmas  Tree. — Our  chief 
good  turn  was  guarding  the  community  Christmas  Tree 
and  helping  the  King's  Daughters  deliver  Christmas 
cheer  to  the  poor.  (Berwick,  Pa.) 

"Assisted  at  Mosquito  and  Fly  Campaign.  —  The  Scout 
troop  undertook  to  exterminate  the  mosquito  in  our 


BOY   SCOUTING  263 

village,  and  carried  on  the  work  regularly  each  week 
throughout  the  summer  with  excellent  results.  (Auburn, 
Ala.) 

" Aided  Police. — Took  care  of  several  hundred  lost 
children  at  big  school  picnic  in  a  crowd  of  40,000  people. 
Helped  patrol  river  front  during  boat  races.  (East  St. 
Louis,  111.) 

"Assisted  Red  Cross  Society.  —  Secured  over  200  new 
members  for  American  Red  Cross  Society,  also  assisted 
the  local  chapter  of  the  American  Red  Cross  Society  in 
rolling  bandages  and  making  surgical  dressings.  (Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.) 

"Acted  as  Volunteer  Forestry  Wardens.  —  During  the 
five  weeks'  camp  at  Indian  Lake,  Troop  8  planted  150,000 
spruce  trees  on  150  acres  of  land  for  the  State  Forestry. 
Assistant  Scoutmaster  Kuehn  and  Scouts  Stalker  and 
Blanchfield  received  the  first  scout  medals,  which  were 
presented  to  them  March  14,  1916.  (Rome,  N.  Y.) 

"Persons  Saved  from  Drowning. — One  of  our  boys 
saved  five  persons  from  drowning  this  year,  two  of  them 
National  Guardsmen ;  one  was  sent  to  the  hospital  com- 
pletely exhausted.  The  Scout  is  an  expert  swimmer 
and  merit-badge  boy;  another,  the  youngest  and  smallest 
Scout,  brought  in  a  little  girl  6  years  old  who  had  fallen 
from  our  diving  board.  Fifteen  persons  were  taught  to 
swim  at  our  camp.  (Manitowoc,  Wis.) 

"Rendered  Service  to  Poor  on  Christmas  and  Thanks- 
giving. —  The  troop  gave  donation  of  dinners  at  Thanks- 
giving and  Christmas  donation  to  orphan  asylum  and 
day  nursery  to  the  value  of  $10,  and  are  to  give  a  cot  to 
the  hospital  to  celebrate  its  birthday.  (Elizabeth,  N.J.) 

"Kept  Fire  Apparatus  in  Good  Condition.  —  Last  winter 
our  troop  located  the  nearest  fire  plug  to  our  homes  and 
kept  the  snow  away,  so  the  firemen  would  not  have  to 
take  time  to  do  this  if  they  wanted  to  use  the  plug. 
(Cleveland,  O.) 


264    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

"Census  of  Condition  of  Lawns  and  Backyards.  —  In  the 
spring  the  Scouts  assisted  the  city  in  clean-up  days,  ad- 
vertising it,  notifying  property  owners  and  city  officers 
of  unsanitary  conditions,  and  kept  the  people  informed 
when  the  city  rubbish  wagons  would  be  on  their  streets. 
In  August  took  census  of  condition  of  lawns  and  back- 
yards and  reported  to  the  city.  (Nevada,  Mo.)" 

Scouting  as  an  example  of  expression  in  education. 

—  Throughout  the  country  Boy  Scouts  have  more 
recently  rendered  valuable  and  patriotic  service  in 
canvassing  for  the  sale  of  Liberty  Loan  Bonds,  se- 
curing subscriptions  for  the  Red  Cross  funds,  Army 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  funds,  and  other  worthy  war  agencies. 
Though  their  services  were  recognized  and  rewarded 
by  words  of  appreciation  from  President  Wilson 
himself,  the  boys  themselves  profited  most  by  what 
they  did.  In  no  other  way  could  they  have  been 
schooled  in  patriotic  lessons  more  effectively.  Think- 
ing and  feeling  was  translated  by  them  into  action. 
And  action  of  the  right  sort  never  fails  to  leave  its 
indelible  imprint  upon  character. 

There  are  hundreds  of  communities  in  which  for 
a  variety  of  reasons,  it  is  either  not  possible  or  not 
feasible  to  organize  Scout  companies.  But  in  all 
such  places  a  knowledge  upon  the  part  of  parents 
and  teachers  of  what  Scouts  do,  of  what  they  are, 
and  of  the  principles  governing  their  conduct  may 
enable  the  school,  home,  and  church  to  utilize  more 
fully  than  they  do  at  present  the  instincts  of  boys 
to  which  a  proper  appeal  must  be  made  before  char- 
acter of  a  dynamic  sort  can  be  built  up. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  conclusion  that  the  recent 
attempts  at  socializing  the  curricula  of  our  schools, 


BOY  SCOUTING  265 

socializing  the  recitation,  and  motivating  instruction 
in  school  and  Sunday  school  are  all  steps  in  the 
direction  of  greater  initiative,  self-reliance,  and  in- 
dependent thinking  and  acting  upon  the  part  of 
children.  In  all  of  this  the  psychology  and  peda- 
gogy of  the  Scout  movement  will  have  much  that  is 
suggestive  to  the  teacher  who  will  take  the  pains 
to  discover  its  bearing  and  application.  If  the 
schools  of  the  past  have  failed  in  a  measure  to  ac- 
complish their  task  of  training  boys  and  girls  to 
become  socially  efficient  men  and  women,  it  is  be- 
cause they  have  not  made  sufficient  provision  for 
expression  of  life.  The  really  moral  character  is 
dynamic,  not  static.  It  is  revealed  in  what  one 
does,  rather  than  what  one  knows.  But  more  than 
that  it  results  from  what  one  does  even  more  than 
from  what  one  knows.  Hence  the  significance  of 
the  Scouting  program  which  combines  opportunity 
for  learning  and  doing,  for  impression  and  expres- 
sion, for  thinking  and  acting  as  well.  It  is  in  this 
way  that  boys  build  into  their  character  those  quali- 
ties of  self-reliance,  self-direction,  and  self-control 
which  characterize  leaders  in  all  walks  of  life,  and 
fit  them  for  life  in  a  democracy. 

'  The  naturalist  may  praise  it  (the  Boy  Scout 
movement)  for  its  success  in  putting  the  boy  close 
to  nature's  heart ;  the  moralist,  for  its  splendid 
code  of  ethics ;  the  hygienist,  for  its  methods  of 
physical  training;  the  parent,  for  its  ability  to 
keep  his  boy  out  of  mischief;  but  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  educator,  it  has  marvelous  potency  for 
converting  the  restless,  irresponsible,  self-centered 
boy  into  the  staightforward,  dependable,  helpful 


266    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

young  citizen.  To  the  boy  who  will  give  himself 
to  it,  there  is  plenty  of  work  that  looks  like  play, 
standards  of  excellence  which  he  can  appreciate, 
rules  of  conduct  which  he  must  obey,  positions  of 
responsibility  which  he  may  occupy  as  soon  as  he 
qualifies  himself — in  a  word,  a  program  that  ap- 

Eeals  to  a  boy's  instincts,  and  a  method  adapted  to  a 
oy's  nature/' 1 

Influence  of  the  leader.  —  Finally,  it  may  be  added 
that  after  recognizing  the  constructive  positive  pro- 
gram of  Scouting,  appealing  as  it  does  to  the  in- 
stincts and  sentiments  of  boys,  its  ultimate  moral 
and  religious  value  to  any  particular  group  of  boys 
"  will  reflect  very  largely  the  Scoutmaster's  own 
personal  attitude  toward  morality  and  religion.  .  .  . 
It  is  what  he  is  that  counts  in  this  regard.  ...  It 
is  not  his  primary  function  to  teach  Bible  lessons  and 
to  deliver  lectures  on  ethics.  .  .  .  His  part  is  to 
live  the  right  kind  of  a  life  with  the  boys  and  to  help 
them  to  do  the  same.  In  this  connection  example 
has  immeasurable  weight.  Usually  boys  do  not 
imitate  or  emulate  one  whose  attitudes  are  half- 
hearted or  merely  perfunctory.  Religion  as  well  as 
Scouting  becomes  contagious  only  when  lived  with 
enthusiasm  and  genuineness."  2 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

i.  Find  out  by  first-hand  inquiry  what  effect  the  Boy 
Scout  organization  is  having  upon  the  boys  so  organized 
in  your  community. 

1  James    E.    Russell,    "Scouting    Education,"    in    Teachers    College 
Record,  January,  1917,  pp.  6-7. 

2  Richardson   and   Loomis,    The  Boy  Scout  Movement  Applied  by  the 
Church,  p.  375. 


BOY   SCOUTING  267 

2.  Would  you  condemn  the  movement  if  you  should 
find  a  number  of  Scouts  failing  to  keep  the  Oath  ?     Justify 
your  answer. 

3.  What  is  there  in  the  Scout  program  that  the  schools 
might  appropriate  with   profit  ?     What  is  there  that  is 
not  applicable  to  school  work  ? 

4.  Compare  the  Scout  movement  with  other  organized 
efforts  to  accomplish  similar  results. 

5.  Is  there  any  danger  of  Boy  Scouts  becoming  too 
much  imbued  with  military  ideals  for  their  own  or  their 
country's  good  ? 

6.  Discuss  the  movement  in  the  light  of  the  principles 
of  psychology  involved,  relating  it  especially  to  interest, 
instinct,  habit-formation,  suggestion,  will. 

7.  Dean  Russell  says,  "It  gives  definite  embodiment 
to  the  ideals  of  the   school."     What   are  those  ideals  ? 
Can  the  school  not  give  "definite  embodiment"  to  its 
own  ideals  ?     Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

CURTIS,  HENRY  S. :  The  Boy  Scouts.  Educational  Review,  Vol. 
50,  pp.  495-508. 

CURTIS,  HENRY  S. :  Play  and  Recreation :  The  Boy  Scouts  the 
Salvation  of  the  Village  Boy,  chapter  x.  Ginn  &  Co. 

RICHARDSON  and  LOOMIS  :  The  Boy  Scout  Movement  Applied 
by  the  Church.  Scribner's. 

Rns,  JACOB  :  The  Boy  Scouts.     Outlook,  Oct.  25,  1913. 

RUSSELL,  JAMES  E. :  Scouting  Education.  Teachers  College  Rec- 
ord, January,  1917. 

SNEDDEN,  DAVID  :  Some  Pedagogical  Interpretations  and  Ap- 
plications of  the  Methods  of  Boy  Scout  Education. 
Teachers  College  Record,  January,  1917. 

WEST,  ANDREW  :  Scouting  as  an  Educational  Asset,  in  Proceed- 
ings N.  E.  A.  1916,  pp.  1012  ff. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

MOTION  PICTURES  AND   MORALS 

Why  there  is  a  question.  —  We  are  told  that 
thirty  millions  of  people  see  motion  pictures  daily. 
The  motion-picture  house  has  doubtless,  therefore, 
come  to  stay.  Its  thousands  of  patrons  in  every 
city  attest  its  popularity.  Casual  observers  can 
see,  and  careful  studies  prove,  that  its  hold  upon 
high-school  students,  and,  to  a  slightly  less  extent 
upon  elementary  school  students,  is  one  with  which 
parents  and  teachers  must  reckon.  It  is  but  a  rela- 
tively small  minority  of  school  children  in  village 
and  city  who  do  not  have  the  movie  habit.  Most 
of  them  see  one  or  two  shows  every  week,  while 
many  attend  three,  four,  five,  or  six  exhibitions 
weekly. 

The  question  stated.  —  The  question  of  concern 
is  not  whether  children  shall  go  to  the  movies  or  not ; 
it  is  certain  that  they  do  go  and  will  go.  The  vital 
question  is,  what  kind  of  pictures  we  shall  suffer 
them  to  see.  Though  in  many  cases  there  is  an  un- 
warranted amount  of  time  given  even  to  good  shows 
there  is  nothing  inherently  good  or  bad  in  the  movie 
as  such.  The  good  or  ill  effect  is  determined  by  the 
nature  of  the  picture  shown. 

In  spite  of  the  usual  censorship  exercised  when 
pictures  are  first  released,  any  thoughtful  person 

268 


MOTION   PICTURES  AND  MORALS         269 

has  but  to  see  the  posters  used  in  advertising  many 
of  the  shows,  to  realize  that  their  influence  is  baneful. 
The  business  is  thoroughly  commercialized.  It  is 
promoted  in  most  cases  to  make  money,  and  too  often 
any  sort  of  thriller  is  shown  for  the  distinct  purpose 
of  attracting  the  crowd,  the  management  knowing 
that  the  larger  the  crowd,  the  greater  the  financial 
gain.  Like  cheap  vaudeville  shows,  some  of  them 
are  coarse  and  degrading,  tending  to  corrupt  the 
manners,  pollute  the  morals,  and  lower  the  ideals 
of  all  who  see  them.  When  nothing  worse  results, 
many  of  them  tend,  through  low  comedy  and  the 
highly  melodramatic,  to  unfit  their  patrons  for 
more  intellectual,  more  wholesome  and  instructive 
forms  of  amusement  and  recreation. 

Types  of  pictures.  —  Within  the  past  few  months, 
it  has  been  the  writer's  privilege  to  speak  in  a  good 
many  motion-picture  houses  as  a  Government 
Four-Minute-Man  in  the  interest  of  the  various 
campaigns  for  the  Red  Cross,  Liberty  Loan  Bonds, 
Army  Y.  M.  C.  A.  support,  food  conservation,  and 
other  movements.  Incidentally,  an  opportunity 
was  afforded  thereby  for  observing  the  types  of 
pictures  shown  in  most  of  these  houses.  It  is  fair 
to  state  that  some  of  the  pictures  observed  are 
innocent  enough  of  harmful  effects,  a  few  are  even 
morally  and  intellectually  helpful,  but  more  are 
merely  inane  and  silly.  On  the  other  hand  some  are 
seen  to  represent  evil  —  drunkenness,  duplicity, 
improper  relations  between  the  sexes,  for  example 
—  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  appear  inconsequential 
or  funny.  The  effect  of  such  an  exhibition  must  be 
morally  bad.  It  is  possible,  of  course,  to  exhibit 


270    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

certain  vices  upon  the  screen,  as  upon  the  stage, 
without  detriment  to  any  one,  but  this  probably 
happens  only  when  the  vice  is  so  presented  as  to 
arouse  in  the  beholder  a  feeling  of  condemnation 
for  the  wrong  or  when  retributive  justice  is  seen  to 
overtake  the  guilty  person,  causing  in  the  onlooker 
a  feeling  of  gratitude  for  the  outcome  in  the  exercise 
of  a  world  order  that  punishes  wrongdoers  and 
wrongdoing.  When  vice  is  presented  in  such  guise 
as  to  seem  alluring,  and  when  it  provokes  nothing 
sterner  than  an  indulgent  smile,  parents  may  well 
fear  that  its  effect  on  their  children  will  be  pernicious. 

On  the  other  hand  it  has  been  demonstrated  over 
and  over  again,  and  sometimes  by  the  commercial 
motion  picture  house  itself,  that  there  are  exhibitions 
which,  within  reasonable  limits,  it  is  highly  desir- 
able to  have  children  see.  In  this  category  is  to  be 
found  the  great  range  of  educational  pictures  deal- 
ing with  travel,  industrial  processes,  scientific  sub- 
jects, wholesome  comedy,  fairy  stories,  and  the  dram- 
atization of  good  literature.  The  school  and  the 
home  can  well  afford  to  cooperate  with  reputable 
houses  in  the  effort  to  popularize  pictures  of  this 
sort.  Indeed,  their  efforts  and  the  efforts  of  other 
civic  bodies  interested  in  the  moral  welfare  of  the 
community  are  needed  in  the  promotion  of  a  cam- 
paign of  education  that  will  elevate  the  tone  of 
motion-picture  shows  and  help  them  to  play  the  part 
they  are  so  easily  capable  of  playing  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  young. 

Experience  of  one  city  in  solving  the  problem.  — 
In  Decatur,  Illinois,  the  schools,  recognizing  the 
far-reaching  effects  of  motion  pictures  upon  school 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS         271 

children,  undertook  to  popularize  pictures  of  the 
right  sort.  Though  somewhat  similar  attempts 
have  been  made  in  a  number  of  cities,  the  Decatur 
plan  may  be  of  interest.  Hence  the  following  ac- 
count of  it. 

Through  the  cooperation  of  a  number  of  indi- 
viduals and  civic  organizations,  a  good  motion- 
picture  machine  was  bought  and  properly  installed 
in  a  fireproof  booth  in  the  high-school  auditorium. 
For  two  or  three  years  after  this,  good  educational 
reels  were  rented  from  time  to  time  for  a  day,  and 
all,  or  nearly  all,  the  pupils  of  the  whole  city  were 
brought  by  their  teachers  to  the  high  school  for  the 
exhibition,  which  was  given  to  them  free  of  cost. 
Omitting  the  children  of  the  first  two  grades,  it 
required  five  exhibitions  of  the  same  pictures  in  a 
day  (two  in  the  morning,  two  in  the  afternoon,  and 
one  in  the  evening)  to  accommodate  them. 

Such  exhibitions  were  later  discontinued  because 
they  demoralized  the  regular  work  of  every  school- 
room for  almost  half  a  day,  and  because  no  reel 
was  found  to  be  interesting  alike  to  children  from 
the  third  grade  to  the  twelfth. 

A  second  experiment.  -  -  Two  years  ago  a  new 
experiment  was  tried.  Found  to  be  successful,  it 
has  been  continued.  Again  reels  were  rented  by 
the  schools  for  a  day,  and  the  exhibitions  given 
Saturday  afternoons  and  evenings  in  the  high-school 
auditorium.  The  cooperation  of  the  fourteen  par- 
ent-teacher associations  was  secured,  and  they  took 
turns  in  having  charge  of  the  sale  of  tickets,  usher- 
ing, and  other  matters  in  connection  with  the  shows. 
A  five-cent  admission  fee  was  charged.  The  paid 


272    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

admissions  ranged  from  200  to  800  each  Saturday, 
but  a  large  number  of  free  tickets  were  regularly 
given  to  children  known  to  be  too  poor  to  pay  the 
small  admission  fee. 

From  the  titles  of  the  reels  used  the  past  two 
years  the  character  of  the  pictures  may  be  inferred. 
The  influence  of  objectionable  pictures  was  elim- 
inated by  substitution.  It  will  be  observed  that  a 
large  number  of  the  legends,  fairy  tales,  and  other 
stories  having  a  place  in  the  literary  work  of  the 
schools  was  used.  To  this  extent  the  exhibitions 
easily  correlated  with  the  regular  work  in  reading, 
story-telling,  and  dramatization,  and  the  teachers 
so  used  them.  Other  reels  were  travel,  industrial, 
or  in  other  respects  educational,  reenforcing  the 
regular  work  in  nature  study,  geography,  and 
language.  A  few  were  merely  innocently  comic, 
with  nothing  better,  but  nothing  worse,  than  the 
merriment  caused  to  recommend  them.  To  most 
teachers  the  titles  given  will  indicate  the  character 
of  the  picture. 


SHOWN   DURING   THE    SCHOOL   YEAR    1915-1916 

1.  Snow  White,  Hunting  in  Crazyland 

2.  Robin  Hood,  Trained  Seals 

3.  Wizard  of  Oz 

4.  Rumpelstiltskin 

5.  Heart  of  a  Princess,  Elephant  Circus 

6.  Robinson  Crusoe 

7.  Hansel  and  Gretel,  Five  Senses,  When  the  Lily  Died 

8.  Aladdin  and  His  Wonderful  Lamp,  Goldie  Locks 

9.  Sleeping  Beauty,  Gretchen 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS          273 

10.  The  Lady  of  the  Lake,  Puss  in  Well 

11.  Little  Lord  Fauntleroy 

12.  Rip  Van  Winkle 

13.  Treasure  Island,  Three  Wishes 

14.  Taming  of  the  Shrew,  Little  Shepherd 

15.  Goose  Girl 

1 6.  Cinderella 

17.  Patchwork  Girl  of  Oz 

1 8.  Ivanhoe 

19.  Washington  at  Valley  Forge 

20.  William  Tell 

SHOWN   DURING   THE    SCHOOL   YEAR    1916-1917 

1.  Sport  and  Travel  in  Central  Africa 

2.  Rags 

3.  Wrestling,  By  Parcel  Post,  Manufacture  of  Paper 

4.  Ragamuffin 

5.  Midnight  Ride  of  Paul  Revere,  Quarantined,  Manu- 

facture   of   Varnish,    Grand    Canyon,    'Twas    the 
Night  Before  Christmas 

6.  Mollie  Make-Believe 

7.  The  Prince  and  the  Pauper 

8.  Manufacture  of  Big  Guns,  Close  of  the  American 

Revolution,    Lumbering    in    China    and    Canada, 
Pineapple,  General  of  the  Future 

9.  Hulda  of  Holland 

10.  Fairies'  Hallowe'en,  Aix-les-Bains,  Peeps  into  Italy, 

Thames,     Scotland,    Cornwall,    Landing    of    the 
Pilgrims 

11.  Silas  Marner 

12.  Making  Rope,  Malay  Capitol,  Swiss  Customs,  Ani- 

mals of  South  America,   Interesting  Scenes  from 
Abroad,  Rubber  Industry 

13.  Scrooge,  Nicholas  Nickleby 

14.  Boy  Blue,  Such  a  Princess 


274    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

15.  Making   Modern    Shoes,   Argentine   to   Chile,   Alps, 

Ice  in  Sweden,  Coasting  and  Skiing,  Dogs 

16.  Little  Napoleon,  The  Shepherd's  Flute,  The  Acrobatic 

Monkey 

17.  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin 

18.  Silks  and  Satins 

19.  Pinocchio,  Swallowed  by  the  Deep 

20.  The  Foundling 

A  thkd  experiment.  —  For  the  past  semester  a 
new  experiment  has  been  tried  in  the  Decatur  schools 
in  the  use  of  motion  pictures,  A  high-school  civics 
class,  under  the  direction  of  a  progressive  teacher 
who  seizes  every  opportunity  to  vitalize  his  sub- 
ject, is  bringing  a  series  of  valuable  films  to  the 
school  from  week  to  week,  and  exhibiting  them  in 
the  high-school  auditorium  during  the  two  luncheon 
periods,  n  :  30  to  i  :  30.  Students  with  ten,  fifteen, 
or  more  minutes  to  spend  after  their  lunch  is  eaten, 
may  step  into  the  auditorium,  be  seated,  entertained 
and  instructed,  relieve  the  corridors  of  their  con- 
gestion and  necessary  attendant  disorder,  and 
thus  improve  the  morale  of  the  whole  school.  The 
motion-picture  programs  are  usually  given  three 
times  a  week  under  the  direct  management  of  a 
committee  of  students  from  the  civics  department. 
This  committee  was  organized  with  a  chairman,  a 
subchairman,  head  usher,  eight  assistant  ushers,  a 
musician,  stage  manager,  machine  operator,  and 
secretary.  Students  are  seated  in  the  auditorium 
with  a  view  to  direct  supervision  —  the  boys  in 
sections  reserved  for  them  and  the  girls  in  other 
sections  exclusively  reserved  for  their  use.  Stu- 
dents are  permitted  to  enter  at  any  time,  but  may 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS         275 

leave  only  at  the  end  of  a  recitation  period.     At- 
tendance in  all  cases  is  wholly  optional. 

The  aim  is  to  supplement  the  vocational  guidance 
activities  of  the  school  with  actual  pictures  of  vo- 
cations in  the  industries  and  social  service,  mis- 
sions, the  professions,  transportation,  the  consular 
service,  city  planning,  etc. ;  to  bring  to  students  a 
broader  conception  of  community,  national,  and 
world  relations  through  the  travel  films  covering 
every  nation  on  the  globe;  to  compete  with  the 
commercialized  films  which  call  out  the  coarser 
emotions,  by  substituting  films  drawn  from  the 
realm  of  literature,  fairy  tales,  folklore,  and  pure 
humor,  which  stimulate  the  best  emotions  in  stu- 
dents and  develop  in  them  a  discriminating  taste 
for  the  best.  The  aim  is  further  to  provide  another 
activity  wherein  the  civics  students  may  function 
without  remuneration  as  good  citizens  in  the  in- 
terest of  a  community  project  —  in  this  case,  the 
community  being  the  high  school  —  and  to  demon- 
strate how  cooperation  may  bring  the  best  things  to 
a  community  at  a  minimum  of  expense. 

Two  reels  of  1000  feet  each  were  shown  usually. 
On  days  of  special  programs  as  many  as  four  reels 
of  1000  feet  each  would  be  shown. 

Community  singing  was  introduced  the  last  month 
of  the  semester.  Led  by  the  High  School  Glee 
Clubs  under  the  direction  of  the  head  of  the  music 
department,  the  students  sing  from  words  thrown 
upon  the  screen  the  standard  patriotic  songs  sent 
out  by  the  National  Committee  on  Community 
Sings.  The  response  is  always  hearty,  dignified, 
patriotic. 


276    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Films  are  shown  with  the  accompaniment  of  the 
best  selections  from  world  masters  played  on  a  good 
player  piano  owned  by  the  public  schools.  The 
general  tone  created  by  this  music  is  high  and  pure. 
The  attention  of  the  students  is  uniformly  respect- 
ful. 

Still  slides  showing  the  President,  the  Governor, 
the  Flag,  the  Capitol,  American  statesmen,  mes- 
sages from  the  food  administration,  etc.,  are  shown 
before  each  program.  Each  is  roundly  applauded. 


PROGRAM  FOR  THE  SEMESTER 

1.  Canadian  Rockies  —  A  travel  film  (1000  ft.) 

Pure  Foods  —  A  trip  through  the  Battle  Creek  Plant 
(1000  ft.) 

2.  From  the  Pine  Forests  to  the  Home  —  A  trip  through 

the  Long-Bell  Lumber  Company  (4000  ft.) 

3.  Hearst-Pathe  News  —  Current  events  in  all  parts  of 

the  world  (1000  ft.) 

Ford     Educational     Weekly  —  A    trip     to     Denver, 
Colorado  (1000  ft.) 

4.  From  Cow  to  Consumer  —  A  trip  through  the  Bor- 

den  Condensed  Milk  Plant  and  Great  Farms  (4000 

ft.). 

5.  A  Trip  Through   the  Overland   Automobile   Factory 

(4000  ft.) 

6.  Pleasure    Side  of  Life   in    Australia  —  A  travel  film 

(1000  ft.) 

Salmon   Industry  on  the  Pacific  Coast  —  Ford   Edu- 
cational Weekly  (1000  ft.) 

7.  Hearst-Pathe  News  —  Current  events  in  all  parts  of 

the  world  (1000  ft.) 
Irrigation  in  Canada  —  Travel  film  (1000  ft.) 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS          277 

8.  A  Trip  to  Indianapolis  —  Ford  Educational  Weekly 

(ipoo  ft.) 

Making  of  Matches  —  A  trip  through  the  Red  Crown 
Plant  (1000  ft.) 

9.  A  Trip  Through  the  Studebaker  Factory  —  Manufac- 

ture of  automobiles  (2000  ft.) 

10.  Life  in  Normandy  —  A  travel  film  through  France 

(ipoo  ft.) 
A  trip  to  St.  Augustine,  Florida  (1000  ft.) 

11.  A  Trip  Through  the  Ford  Factory  (2000  ft.) 

The  Ford  Idea  in  Education  —  Showing  the  making 
of  American  citizens  in  the  Ford  Plant  (1000  ft.) 

Safety  First  —  How  the  Ford  Motor  Company  pro- 
tects its  employees  (1000  ft.) 

12.  Reunion   of  the   Grand   Army   of  the   Republic   at 

Vicksburg  —  Ford  Educational  Weekly  (1000  ft.) 
Hearst-Pathe  News  —  Current  events  in  all  parts  of 
the  world  (1000  ft.) 

13.  From  Sheep  to  a  Suit  of  Clothes  —  The  wool  industry 

(1000  ft.) 

How  to  Set  Your  Table  —  Manufacture  of  silverware 
(ipoo  ft.) 

14.  A  Trip  Through  Yosemite  Park  —  Ford  Educational 

Weekly  (ipoo  ft.) 
Modern    Railroading  —  The    Pennsylvania   Railroad 

Company  (1000  ft.) 
15."" Jack  and  the  Beanstalk  —  Ford  Educational  Weekly 

(500  ft.) 
Making  of  Bread  —  A  trip   through   the   National 

Biscuit  Co.  (1000  ft.) 

16.  The  Pacific  Northwest  —  Travel  film  (1000  ft.) 
Hearst-Pathe  News  —  Current  events  in  all  parts  of 

the  world  (1000  ft.) 

17.  Farming  with  Dynamite  —  A  trip  through  the  Du- 

pont  Plant  and  demonstrations  of  explosives  on 
the  farm  (1000  ft.) 


278    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Glimpses  of  Buenos  Aires  —  A  travel  film  (800  ft.) 

1 8.  Making  of  Crepe  Paper  (1000  ft.) 
Manufacture  of  Hershey  Chocolates  (1000  ft.) 

19.  A  Trip  through  Los  Angeles  —  Travel  film  (1000  ft.) 
A  Trip  to  New  Orleans  —  Ford  Educational  Weekly 

(loop  ft.) 

20.  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield  —  In  four  parts  (4000  ft.) 

21.  Travels  in  Indo-China  (4000  ft.) 

22.  From  Ore  to  Lead  Pipe  —  With  lecturer  from  Na- 

tional Tube  Co.  (4000  ft.) 

The  pictures  were  shown  gratis.  The  only  ex- 
pense involved,  other  than  the  regular  fees  paid  the 
licensed  operator  in  the  employ  of  the  school,  was 
the  express  charges,  which  averaged  twenty-one 
and  one-half  cents  per  thousand  feet  of  films. 

The  films  were  secured  from  four  distinct  sources : 

1.  The  Bureau  of  Commercial  Economics,  Washington 

2.  The  Ford  Motor  Company,  St.  Louis 

3.  Individual  industries 

4.  Local  motion-picture  theaters  and  studios 

The  Bureau  of  Commercial  Economics  is  an  as- 
sociation of  the  governments,  institutions,  manu- 
facturers, producers,  and  transportation  lines  of 
America  and  other  countries,  to  engage  in  dissemi- 
nating geographical,  commercial,  industrial,  and  vo- 
cational information  by  "  the  graphic  method  of 
motography,"  showing  how  things  in  common  use 
are  made  or  produced,  and  under  what  conditions. 

The  Bureau  displays  its  reels  and  slides  in  univer- 
sities, colleges,  technical  and  agricultural  schools, 
public  libraries,  state  armories,  high  schools,  people's 
institutes,  public  institutions,  state  granges,  settle- 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS          279 

ment  houses,  missions,  chambers  of  commerce, 
boards  of  trade,  commercial  clubs,  rotary  clubs, 
trade  conventions,  welfare  forums  by  corporations, 
fraternal  organizations ;  also  with  powerful  pro- 
jectors, operated  from  auto  trucks,  in  parks,  play- 
grounds, rural  communities,  and  other  centers  for 
the  general  welfare  of  the  public. 

The  films  are  lent  to  such  institutions  gratis,  with 
the  special  provisions,  however,  that  express  charges 
be  assumed  one  way  by  the  institution  receiving  the 
films ;  and  that  the  admission  to  the  public  be  free. 
For  large  audiences  the  Bureau  agrees  to  provide, 
without  expense,  special  lecturers  on  current  sub- 
jects and  banking. 

The  Ford  Motor  Company,  St.  Louis,  sends  out 
to  educational  institutions  in  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
gratis,  an  Educational  Weekly  which  covers  the  same 
field  as  the  films  of  the  Bureau  of  Commercial 
Economics  with  the  addition  of  a  large  proportion 
of  current  events  films.  These  films  are  wonder- 
fully artistic  in  make-up,  and  are  easily  the  features 
of  our  motion-picture  programs.  The  subjects  are 
not  announced  in  advance,  but  the  films  are  sent 
out  from  the  St.  Louis  office  each  week.  The 
current  events  films  recently  featured  the  army 
cantonments,  scenes  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  great 
conventions  and  parades  in  cities  over  the  country ; 
city  planning  as  indicated  in  the  leading  cities  of 
the  world ;  trips  to  literary  shrines  in  America ; 
trips  through  America's  most  beautiful  parks. 

Individual  industries  such  as  the  Ford  Motor 
Company,  Detroit ;  Long-Bell  Lumber  Company, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. ;  John  B.  Stetson  Company, 


28o    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Philadelphia ;  Lamb-Fish  Lumber  Company,  Charles- 
ton, Miss. ;  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. ;  and  others,  send  out  as  a  rule 
very  interesting  and  artistic  films  showing  the 
processes  in  their  individual  plants.  That  of  the 
Ford  Motor  Company  is  by  far  the  most  interesting 
and  comprehensive  film  we  have  seen.  It  covers 
every  phase  of  modern  industrial  efficiency  with 
special  stress  on  the  general  welfare  note  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  Ford  plant.  Their  English 
school  is  an  admirable  lesson  in  citizen-making. 
Their  "  safety "  film  covers  every  phase  of  the 
governmental  regulations  for  safety  devices  in  manu- 
facturing plants. 

The  following  very  brief  summary  of  the  semester's 
work  may  be  suggestive  to  other  schools : 

Total  number  of  programs 22 

Total  number  of  feet  of  films  exhibited       .     .     .     56,300 

Total  express  charges $12 

Total  attendance 18,700 

The  daily  average  attendance       850 

The  highest  attendance  in  one  day 1,200 

(at  which  the  Vicar  of  Wakefield  was  shown) 

Total  cost  per  student  in  grand  total  attendance 
was  less  than  a  fourth  of  a  cent. 

While  it  is  too  early  to  pronounce  on  such  an 
experiment  as  that  which  has  just  been  described, 
there  is  almost  every  reason  for  believing  that  it 
marks  a  great  forward  step  in  the  elevation  of 
motion-picture  shows  and  their  utilization  for  educa- 
tional ends.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  the  hun- 


MOTION   PICTURES   AND   MORALS          281 

dreds  of  young  people  from  the  high  school  and  junior 
high  school,  who  see  these  exhibitions  weekly,  will 
long  be  content  with  the  cheap,  sensational,  vulgar, 
or  fatuous  sort  of  picture  too  often  exhibited  by  the 
commercial  houses. 

Conclusion.  — In  conclusion  it  should  be  remarked, 
however,  that  in  many  cities  the  commercial  picture 
houses  have  been  induced  to  make  a  feature  of  edu- 
cational films  certain  days  of  the  week.  In  such 
cases,  through  the  cooperation  of  the  public  school 
authorities,  the  school  children  are  directed  and 
encouraged  to  patronize  these  shows.  The  result 
is  an  elevation  of  the  character  of  the  shows,  a  pros- 
perous business  for  the  managers,  and  wholesome 
recreation  for  the  children.  Indeed,  most  pro- 
prietors of  moving-picture  houses  are  willing  and 
even  glad  to  furnish  worth-while  films  when  they 
learn  that  the  public  demand  it,  and  their  just  claim 
is  that  they  give  the  people  just  what  they  want. 

Note :  The  writer  acknowledges  his  obligation  to  Mr. 
William  C.  Casey,  instructor  in  civics  in  the  Decatur 
High  School,  for  an  excellent  report  of  the  motion-picture 
programs  given  under  direction  of  his  class.  He  has  drawn 
freely  from  the  facts  in  this  report  and  in  several  para- 
graphs has  used  the  language  of  Mr.  Casey. 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Find  the  extent  to  which  your  children  or  pupils 
have  the  "movie"  habit. 

2.  What  do  you  know  of  the  character  of  the  pictures 
shown  in  your  neighborhood  ?     Are  the  picture  houses 
safe  from  a  sanitary  standpoint  ? 


282    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

3.  Is  any  organization  —  woman's  club,  parent-teacher 
association,  or  other  agency  —  actively  interested  in  se- 
curing good  pictures  for  your  community  ? 

4.  Have  you  had  experience  with  motion  pictures  in 
your  school  ?     If  so,  what  use  have  you  made  of  them  ? 
What  objections,  if  any,  have  you  to  their  use  ? 

5.  Study  the  list  of  reels  mentioned  in  this  chapter  and 
estimate  the  merit  and  demerit  of  each.     List  other  sub- 
jects or  reels  that  you  think  profitable  for  children. 

6.  Do  motion  pictures  have  a  moral  value  for  children 
when  they  are  merely  unmoral  in  their  nature  —  neither 
immoral  in  their  effects,  nor  meant  to  teach  a  distinct 
moral  lesson  ? 


CHAPTER  XX 

MORAL  EDUCATION   THROUGH   THE  BIBLE 

The  Bible  as  literature.  —  In  another  chapter  we 
have  discussed  the  teaching  of  morality  through 
literature.  The  field  is  a  wide  one  and  the  possi- 
bilities are  boundless.  Within  its  scope  we  might 
include  the  Bible,  for  we  find  in  it  most  of  the  im- 
portant types  of  literature  —  biography,  lyric  and 
epic  poetry,  short  story,  allegory,  parable,  drama, 
history,  etc.  The  influence  of  the  Bible,  particu- 
larly the  King  James  version  of  it,  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  the  English  language  and  literature,  has 
been  attested  by  critics  for  generations.  The  best 
in  literature  is  so  full  of  biblical  allusions  that  it 
is  hardly  intelligible  except  to  one  who  has  con- 
siderable familiarity  with  characters  and  incidents 
drawn  from  the  Scriptures.  Many  great  writers, 
indeed,  acknowledge  that  their  style  has  been 
created  largely  by  their  Bible  study. 

Influence  of  the  Bible  upon  literature.  —  Ruskin, 
e.g.,  says,  in  Prceterita,  Chapter  I : 

"My  mother  forced  me,  by  steady  toil,  to  learn  long 
chapters  of  the  Bible  by  heart ;  as  well  as  to  read  it  every 
syllable  through,  aloud,  hard  names  and  all,  from  Genesis 
to  the  Apocalypse,  about  once  a  year;  and  to  that  dis- 
cipline —  patient,  accurate,  and  resolute  —  I  owe,  not 

283 


284    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

only  a  knowledge  of  the  book  which  I  find  occasionally 
serviceable,  but  much  of  my  general  power  of  taking 
pains,  and  the  best  part  of  my  taste  in  literature." 

Some  literary  masterpieces,  such  as  Paradise  Lost, 
e.g.,  involve  not  merely  allusions  to  biblical  char- 
acters and  incidents,  but  their  very  warp  and  woof, 
their  form  and  spirit  and  teaching  are  unintelligible 
apart  from  their  biblical  basis. 

Dante's  Divine  Comedy  gives  a  medieval  concep- 
tion of  hell,  purgatory,  and  heaven,  based  upon  a 
biblical  theme,  whatever  one  may  think  today  of 
the  naive  understanding  of  the  writer. 

Goethe's  Faust  profoundly  sets  forth  scriptural 
teachings,  and  shows  wherein  knowledge,  power, 
culture,  self-indulgence,  fail  to  satisfy  the  deeper 
longings  of  the  human  soul. 

Paul's  teaching  that  "  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  " 
has  been  a  favorite  theme  of  more  recent  writers, 
the  great  tragedies  of  Shakespeare  —  Hamlet,  Mac- 
beth, and  King  Lear,  being  among  the  best  illustra- 
tions of  this  teaching,  which  has  a  place  in  the  Eng- 
lish courses  of  high  school  and  college  today. 

No  other  people  has  produced  a  body  of  literature 
so  saturated  with  the  moral  and  religious  spirit  as 
that  which  the  Hebrews  gave  us.  They  may  be 
said  to  have  had  a  genius  for  religion,  as  the  Greeks 
had  for  art  and  philosophy,  and  the  Romans  for 
organization  and  practical  affairs.  Through  the 
Bible  they  have  been  able  to  communicate  to  other 
peoples  for  successive  centuries  their  own  exalted 
ideas  of  Jehovah,  of  man's  relation  to  him,  and  the 
reciprocal  duties  of  man  to  man. 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     285 

Practical  objections  to  the  use  of  the  Bible  in 
school.  —  Though  it  is  almost  universally  recognized 
that  the  Bible  is  superior  to  all  other  books  as  a 
textbook  for  the  teaching  of  morals  and  religion, 
there  are  certain  very  practical  objections  to  its  in- 
discriminate use  in  the  public  schools.  The  most 
important  of  these  is  the  legal  one.  In  some  states 
legislation  actually  prohibits  its  use  in  schools  sup- 
ported by  public  taxation.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
Certain  well-marked  theological  and  sectarian  differ- 
ences, involving  both  creed  and  ritual,  have  devel- 
oped from  differences  in  interpretation  of  the  Bible. 
Men  have  always  been  sensitive  on  these  points. 
In  many  states,  therefore,  all  use  of  the  Bible  in  the 
public  schools  has  been  prohibited  that  no  child 
might  be  exposed  to  interpretations  and  teachings 
offensive  to  his  parents'  belief. 

Possible  uses.  —  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
portions  of  the  Bible  presenting  through  character, 
incident,  and  didactic  teaching  just  such  duties  as 
ought  to  be  impressed  on  all  children,  and  doing  it 
more  effectively  than  it  can  be  done  through  any 
other  material  accessible  to  teachers  or  parents.  It 
is  a  great  misfortune  to  children  not  to  become 
familiar  with  them,  either  in  home  or  school.  To 
indicate  some  of  the  more  valuable  portions  of  the 
Bible  for  the  teaching  of  morals  acceptable  to  all, 
regardless  of  sect  or  creed,  is  the  aim  of  the  follow- 
ing pages  of  this  chapter. 

It  may  be  said  in  advance  that  the  danger  of 
giving  offense  to  people  of  conflicting  religious  be- 
liefs through  well-selected  Bible  readings,  even  in 
school,  is  much  more  fanciful  than  real.  In  twelve 


286    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

years  of  service  as  a  high-school  principal,  with  fre- 
quent assemblies  of  high-school  pupils  and  teachers, 
in  some  of  which  the  two  great  divisions  of  the 
Christian  church  were  almost  equally  represented, 
the  writer  never  heard  a  word  of  criticism  of  the 
character  of  an  exercise,  however  frequently  it  in- 
volved a  reading  of  some  scriptural  passage. 

Importance  of  wisdom.  —  In  the  Book  of  Prov- 
erbs are  many  expressions  declaring  the  importance 
of  wisdom.  Such  passages  tend  to  dignify  the  work 
of  the  school  and  to  show  the  importance  of  its  work 
as  compared  with  other  things  which  children  desire 
and  for  which  they  are  tempted  too  often  to  sacrifice 
an  education. 

"Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the  man 
that  getteth  understanding.  For  the  merchandise  of  it 
is  better  than  the  merchandise  of  silver,  and  the  gain 
thereof  than  fine  gold.  She  is  more  precious  than  rubies  : 
and  all  the  things  thou  canst  desire  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared unto  her.  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand ; 
and  in  her  left  hand  riches  and  honour.  Her  ways  are 
ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace.  She 
is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon  her:  and 
happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her.  The  Lord  by 
wisdom  hath  founded  the  earth ;  by  understanding  hath 
he  established  the  heavens.  By  his  knowledge  the  depths 
are  broken  up,  and  the  clouds  drop  down  the  dew.  My 
son,  let  not  them  depart  from  thine  eyes  :  keep  sound 
wisdom  and  discretion :  So  shall  they  be  life  unto  thy 
soul,  and  grace  to  thy  neck." 

Respect  for  parents.  —  Respect  for  parents  was  a 
moral  trait  which  had  a  large  place  in  the  training 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE   BIBLE     287 

given  to  children  in  the  Jewish  homes  of  ancient 
times.  Young  Americans  begin  very  early  to  think 
that  the  ';  Old  Man  "  and  the  "  Old  Woman  "  are 
well  meaning  enough,  but  hardly  up  to  date.  Both 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  offer  an  antidote 
for  this  tendency  in  such  teachings  and  admonitions 
as  these : 

"My  son,  keep  the  commandment  of  thy  father  and 
forsake  not  the  law  of  thy  mother.  Bind  them  continually 
upon  thy  heart ;  tie  them  about  thy  neck."  Proverbs  I  : 
8-9. 

"A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad  father;  but  a  foolish  son 
is  the  heaviness  of  his  mother/'  Proverbs  15  :  20. 

"Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord;  for  this  is 
right.  Honor  thy  father  and  mother  (which  is  the  first 
commandment  with  promise)  that  it  may  be  well  with 
thee,  and  thou  mayest  live  long  on  the  earth/'  Ephe- 
sians  6 :  1-2. 

Laziness  and  improvidence.  —  Laziness  and  im- 
providence are  effectively  contrasted  with  industry 
and  providence  in  Proverbs : 

"I  went  by  the  field  of  the  sluggard, 
And  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man  void  of  understanding ; 
And,  lo,  it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns, 
The  face  thereof  was  covered  with  nettles, 
And  the  stone  wall  thereof  was  broken  down. 
Then  I  beheld  and  considered  well ; 
I  saw  and  received  instruction.  .  .  . 

"Go  to  the  ant,  thou  sluggard; 
Consider  her  ways  and  be  wise : 


288    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Which  having  no  chief, 
Overseer,  or  ruler, 
Provideth  her  bread  in  the  summer, 
And  gathereth  her  food  in  the  harvest. 
How  long  wilt  thou  sleep,  O  sluggard  ? 
When  wilt  thou  arise  out  of  thy  sleep  ? 
Yet  a  little  more  sleep,  a  little  slumber, 
A  little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep ; 
So  shall  thy  poverty  come  as  a  robber, 
And  thy  want  as  an  armed  man." 

"And  let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing;  for  in  due 
season  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not."  Galatians  5  :  9. 

The  evils  resulting  from  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks 
were  proclaimed  as  a  warning  to  youth  in  these 
words : 

"Who  hath  woe?  Who  hath  sorrow?  Who  hath  con- 
tentions ? 

Who  hath  complaining  ?  Who  hath  wounds  without 
cause  ? 

Who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ? 

They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine. 

Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red, 

When  it  sparkleth  in  the  cup, 

When  it  goeth  down  smoothly. 

At  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent, 

And  stingeth  like  an  adder."     Proverbs. 

The  Golden  Rule,  "  Whatsoever  ye  would  that 
men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  unto  them," 
deserves  teaching  to  all  children.  Its  application 
to  life  does  more  than  anything  else  can  do  to  lessen 
friction  between  man  and  man.  The  conflict  be- 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     289 

tween  capital  and    labor  is  minimized  just  to  the 
extent  that  this  rule  is  appreciated  and  applied. 

'  Ye  that  are  strong  ought  to  bear  the  infirmities 
of  the  weak."  This  is  a  social  leaven  which  is  slowly 
leavening  the  lump  of  society. 

Paul  closes  one  of  his  letters  to  an  early  church 
with  the  following  admonition,  the  epitome  of  all 
moral  instruction,  and  the  clearest  statement  of 
its  psychology  as  well  : 

"Finally,  my  brethren,  whatsoever  things  are  true,  K 
Whatsoever  things  are  honorable, 
Whatsoever  things  are  just, 
Whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
Whatsoever  things  are  lovely, 
Whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ; 
If  there  be  any  virtue, 
And  if  there  be  any  praise, 
Think  on  these  things." 

Mutual  relationships.  —  In  teaching  children  the 
mutual  relationship  that  members  of  a  home,  a 
school,  a  church,  a  neighborhood,  or  a  state  sustain 
to  each  other,  and  the  reciprocal  duties  imposed,  the 
parable  of  the  Body  and  its  Members  may  well  be 
used. 

"The  body  is  not  one  member,  but  many.  If  the  foot 
shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  hand,  I  am  not  of  the 
body;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the  body.  And  if  the 
ear  shall  say,  Because  I  am  not  the  eye,  I  am  not  of  the 
body ;  it  is  not  therefore  not  of  the  body.  If  the  whole 
body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ?  If  the  whole 
were  hearing,  where  were  the  smelling  ?  But  now  hath 
God  set  the  members  each  one  of  them  in  the  body,  even 


290    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

as  it  pleased  him.  And  if  they  were  all  one  member,  where 
were  the  body  ?  But  now  they  are  many  members,  but 
one  body. 

"And  the  eye  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have  no  need 
of  thee :  or  again  the  head  to  the  feet,  I  have  no  need  of 
you.  Nay,  much  rather,  those  members  of  the  body 
which  seem  to  be  more  feeble  are  necessary :  and  those 
parts  of  the  body,  which  we  think  to  be  less  honorable, 
upon  these  we  bestow  more  abundant  honor;  and  our 
uncomely  parts  have  more  abundant  comeliness ;  whereas 
our  comely  parts  have  no  need  :  but  God  tempered  the 
body  together,  giving  more  abundant  honor  to  that  part 
which  lacked ;  that  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the 
body ;  but  that  the  members  should  have  the  same  care 
one  for  another.  And  whether  one  member  suffereth, 
all  the  members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one  member  is  honored, 
all  the  members  rejoice  with  it." 

Neighborliness.  -  -  The  parable  of  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan teaches  a  lesson  of  such  universal  need  that 
it  may  well  find  a  place  among  the  moral  lessons 
of  the  public  schools. 

"A  certain  man  was  going  down  from  Jerusalem  to 
Jericho ;  and  he  fell  among  robbers,  who  both  stripped 
him  and  beat  him,  and  departed,  leaving  him  half  dead. 
And  by  chance  a  certain  priest  was  going  down  that  way : 
and  when  he  saw  him,  he  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 
And  in  like  manner  a  Levite  also,  when  he  came  to  the 
place,  and  saw  him,  passed  by  on  the  other  side. 

"But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  journeyed,  came  where 
he  was :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  came  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds, 
pouring  on  them  oil  and  wine ;  and  he  set  him  on  his  own 
beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of  him. 
And  on  the  morrow  he  took  out  two  shillings,  and  gave 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     29! 

them  to  the  host,  and  said,  Take  care  of  him  ;  and  what- 
soever thou  spendest  more,  I,  when  I  come  back  again, 
will  repay  thee. 

"Which  of  these  three,  thinkest  thou,  proved  neighbor 
unto  him  that  fell  among  the  robbers  ?  And  he  said,  He 
that  showed  mercy  on  him." 

In  the  Old  Testament  are  stories  of  numerous  char- 
acters which  children  should  know.  Many  of  the 
stories  need  to  be  recast ;  some  should  be  expur- 
gated ;  some  ought  to  be  omitted.  The  rich  variety 
of  moral  lessons  which  can  easily  be  taught  by  the 
skillful  teacher  who  knows  how  to  analyze  them  and 
present  them  in  paraphrase  is  nowhere  more  striking 
than  here.  Adam  and  Eve,  their  disobedience, 
consciousness  of  guilt,  and  expulsion  from  Paradise 
in  punishment ;  Cain  and  Abel  and  the  warning  to 
children  of  all  generations  that  one  can  not  lightly 
set  aside  the  duty  he  owes  his  brother ;  the  beauty  of 
conduct  exhibited  by  Abraham  in  yielding  a  portion 
of  his  rights  for  the  sake  of  harmony  with  his  kins- 
man Lot ;  the  maternal  affection  of  Hagar  for  her 
child ;  the  beauty  of  hospitality  toward  strangers 
as  illustrated  in  the  story  of  Rebecca  at  the  Well; 
the  friendship  between  David  and  Jonathan ;  the 
love  of  a  father  even  for  an  unworthy  son,  as  shown 
in  the  story  of  David  and  Absalom  —  all  of  these 
and  scores  of  others  present  moral  pictures  from 
which  moral  principles  and  ethical  standards  may  be 
easily  drawn. 

A  method  illustrated.  —  But  whether  in  home,  or 
Sunday  school  or  public  school,  he  who  would  use 
these  stories  for  the  instruction  of  children  is  often 
puzzled  with  the  question  of  selection,  of  analysis, 


292    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

and  of  method.  Because  I  have  seen  no  saner  treat- 
ment of  them  than  that  given  by  Adler  in  his  book, 
which  was  more  widely  read  nearly  a  generation  ago, 
I  venture  to  quote  his  Jacob  Cycle  as  an  illustration 
of  their  possibilities  in  the  hands  of  a  wise  teacher. 

"What  treatment  shall  Jacob  receive  at  our  hands,  he, 
the  sly  trickster,  who  cheats  his  brother  of  his  birthright 
and  steals  a  father's  blessing  ?  Yet  he  is  one  of  the 
patriarchs,  and  is  accorded  the  honorable  title  of '  champion 
of  God/  To  hold  him  up  to  the  admiration  of  the  young 
is  impossible.  To  gloss  over  his  faults  and  try  to  explain 
them  away  were  a  sorry  business,  and  honesty  forbids. 
The  Bible  itself  gives  us  the  right  clew.  His  faults  are 
nowhere  disguised.  He  is  represented  as  a  person  who 
makes  a  bad  start  in  life  —  a  very  bad  start,  indeed  — 
but  who  pays  the  penalty  of  his  wrong-doing.  His  is  a 
story  of  penitential  discipline. 

"In  telling  the  story,  all  reference  to  the  duplicity  of 
Rebecca  should  be  omitted,  for  the  same  reason  that 
malicious  stepmothers  and  cruel  fathers  have  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  fairy  tales. 

"The  points  to  be  discussed  may  be  summarized  as 
follows : 

"  Taking  advantage  of  a  brother  in  distress.  —  Jacob 
purchases  the  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage. 

"Tender  attachment  to  a  helpless  old  father.. —  Esau 
goes  out  hunting  to  supply  a  special  delicacy  for  his 
father's  table.  This  is  a  point  which  children  will  ap- 
preciate. Unable  to  confer  material  benefits  on  their 
parents,  they  can  only  show  their  love  by  slight  attentions. 

"Deceit.  —  Jacob  simulates  the  appearance  of  his  older 
brother  and  steals  the  blessing.  In  this  connection  it 
will  be  necessary  to  say  that  a  special  power  was  supposed 
to  attach  to  a  father's  blessing,  and  that  the  words  once 
spoken  were  deemed  irrevocable. 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     293 

"Jacob's  penitential  discipline  begins. — The  deceiver 
is  deceived,  and  made  to  feel  in  his  own  person  the  pain 
and  disappointment  which  deceit  causes.  He  is  re- 
peatedly cheated  by  his  master  Laban,  especially  in  the 
matter  which  is  nearest  to  him,  his  love  for  Rachel. 

"  The  forgiveness  of  injuries.  —  Esau's  magnanimous 
conduct  toward  his  brother. 

"  The  evil  consequences  of  tale-bearing  and  conceit.  — 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  Joseph  is  not  a  mere  coxcomb. 
He  is  a  man  of  genius,  as  his  later  career  proves,  and  the 
stirrings  of  his  genius  manifest  themselves  in  his  early 
dreams  of  future  greatness.  Persons  of  this  description 
are  not  always  pleasant  companions,  especially  in  their 
youth.  They  have  not  yet  accomplished  anything  to 
warrant  distinction,  and  yet  they  feel  within  themselves 
the  presentiment  of  a  destiny  and  of  achievements  above 
the  ordinary.  Their  faults,  their  arrogance,  their  seem- 
ingly preposterous  claims,  are  not  to  be  excused,  but 
neither  is  the  envy  they  excite  excusable.  One  of  the 
hardest  things  to  learn  is  to  recognize  without  envy  the 
superiority  of  a  brother. 

"  Moral  cowardice.  —  Reuben  is  guilty  of  moral  coward- 
ice. He  was  an  opportunist,  who  sought  to  accomplish 
his  ends  by  diplomacy.  If  he,  as  the  oldest  brother,  had 
used  his  authority  and  boldly  denounced  the  contemplated 
crime,  he  might  have  averted  the  long  train  of  miseries 
that  followed. 

"Strength  and  depth  of  paternal  love.  —  *  Joseph  is  no 
more :  an  evil  beast  has  devoured  him.  I  will  go  mourn- 
ing for  my  son  Joseph  into  the  grave/  It  is  a  piece 
of  poetic  justice  that  Jacob,  who  deceived  his  father  in 
the  matter  of  the  blessing  by  covering  himself  with  the 
skin  of  a  kid,  is  himself  deceived  by  the  blood  of  a  kid 
of  the  goats  with  which  the  coat  of  Joseph  had  been 
stained. 

"In  speaking  of  the  temptation  of  Joseph  in  the  house 


294    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

of  Potiphar,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  wife  conspired 
against  her  husband,  and  endeavored  to  induce  Joseph 
to  betray  his  master.  A  pretty  addition  to  the  story  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Talmud,  to  the  effect  that  Joseph 
saw  in  imagination  the  face  of  his  father  before  him  in 
the  moment  of  temptation,  and  was  thereby  strengthened 
to  resist. 

"  The  light  of  a  superior  mind  can  not  be  hidden  even  in  a 
prison.  —  Joseph  wins  the  favor  of  his  fellow-prisoners, 
and  an  opportunity  is  thus  opened  to  him  to  exercise 
his  talents  on  the  largest  scale. 

"Affliction  chastens. — The  famine  had  in  the  mean- 
time spread  to  Palestine.  The  shadow  of  the  grief  for 
Joseph  still  lay  heavily  on  the  household  of  the  patriarch. 
Joseph  is  lost ;  shall  Benjamin,  too,  perish  ?  It  is  pleasant 
to  observe  that  the  character  of  the  brothers  in  the  mean- 
time has  been  changed  for  the  better.  There  is  evidently 
a  lurking  sense  of  guilt  and  a  desire  to  atone  for  it  in  the 
manner  in  which  Judah  pledges  himself  for  the  safety  of 
the  youngest  child.  And  the  same  marked  change  is 
visible  in  the  conduct  of  all  the  brothers  on  the  journey. 
The  stratagem  of  the  cup  was  cunningly  devised  to  test 
their  feelings.  They  might  have  escaped  by  throwing 
the  blame  on  Benjamin.  Instead  of  that,  they  dread 
nothing  so  much  as  that  he  may  have  to  suffer,  and  are 
willing  to  sacrifice  everything  to  save  him.  When  this 
new  spirit  has  become  thoroughly  apparent,  the  end  to 
which  the  whole  group  of  Jacob  stories  pointed  all  along 
is  reached ;  the  work  of  moral  regeneration  is  complete. 
Jacob  himself  has  been  purified  by  affliction,  and  the 
brothers  and  Joseph  have  been  developed  by  the  same 
hard  taskmaster  into  true  men.  The  scene  of  recognition 
which  follows,  when  the  great  vice-regent  orders  his 
attendants  from  the  apartment  and  embraces  those  who 
once  attempted  his  life,  with  the  words,  'I  am  Joseph, 
your  brother:  does  my  father  still  live?'  is  touching  in 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE   BIBLE     295 

the  extreme,  and  the  whole  ends  happily  in  a  blaze  of 
royal  pomp,  like  a  true  Eastern  tale. 

"A  word  as  to  the  method  which  should  be  used  in 
teaching  these  stories.  If  the  fairy  tale  holds  the  moral 
element  in  solution,  if  the  fable  drills  the  pupil  in  dis- 
tinguishing one  moral  trait  at  a  time,  the  biblical  stories 
exhibit  a  combination  of  moral  qualities,  or,  more  pre- 
cisely, the  interaction  of  moral  causes  and  effects ;  and 
it  is  important  for  the  teacher  to  give  expression  to  this 
difference  in  the  manner  in  which  he  handles  the  stories. 
Thus,  in  the  fables  we  have  simply  one  trait,  like  ingrati- 
tude, and  its  immediate  consequences.  The  snake  bites 
the  countryman,  and  is  cast  out;  there  the  matter  ends. 
In  the  story  of  Joseph  we  have,  first,  the  partiality  of  the 
father,  which  produces  or  encourages  self-conceit  in  the 
son ;  Joseph's  conceit  produces  envy  in  the  brothers. 
This  envy  reacts  on  all  concerned  —  on  Joseph,  who  in 
consequence  is  sold  into  slavery;  on  the  father,  who  is 
plunged  into  inconsolable  grief;  on  the  brothers,  who 
nearly  become  murderers.  The  servitude  of  Joseph  de- 
stroys his  conceit  and  develops  his  nobler  nature.  In- 
dustry, fidelity,  and  sagacity  raise  him  to  high  power. 
The  sight  of  the  constant  affliction  of  their  father  on 
account  of  Joseph's  loss  mellows  the  hearts  of  the  brothers, 
etc.  It  is  this  interweaving  of  moral  causes  and  effects 
that  gives  to  the  stories  their  peculiar  value.  They  are 
true  moral  pictures ;  and,  like  the  pictures  used  in  or- 
dinary object  lessons,  they  serve  to  train  the  power  of 
observation.  Trained  observation,  however,  is  the  in- 
dispensable preliminary  of  correct  moral  judgment."  1 

Use  of  quotations.  —  Many  teachers  have  the  com- 
mendable habit  of  writing  on  the  blackboard  in  the 
front  of  the  schoolroom  a  verse  from  the  Bible 

1  Moral  Instruction  of  Children,  chapter  ix,  pp.  126-130. 


296    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

which  they  leave  for  a  few  days  and  then  replace  by 
another,  or  by  a  sentence  from  some  other  source, 
emphasizing  some  moral  virtue  or  truth.  The  teacher 
may  never  know  the  extent  to  which  seed  thus  sown 
is  ultimately  to  germinate,  spring  up,  and  bear 
fruit.  But  I  remember  well  the  pleasure  one  such 
teacher  had  in  telling  me  of  the  testimony  of  a  former 
pupil  in  his  country  school.  The  teacher  and  pupil 
met  after  a  separation  of  twenty  years.  In  the  course 
of  their  conversation  the  former  pupil  said  : 

"  Do  you  remember  the  commandment  you  had 
on  the  blackboard  for  a  week  — '  Remember  now 
thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth '  ?  Well/'  he 
said,  "  that  marked  the  beginning  of  my  Christian 
life,  though  you  never  made  a  comment  upon  the 
verse,  and  you^never  knew  that  it  was  responsible 
for  any  change  in  my  life." 

Jesus  as  a  teacher.  -  -  The  life  of  Jesus,  wholly 
apart  from  the  mooted  questions  concerning  his 
birth,  his  resurrection,  his  ascension,  and  his  inter- 
cession for  man  in  the  forgiveness >of  sin,  is  still  one 
of  such  singular  beauty,  purity,  and  power,  that  its 
story  ought  to  be  the  heritage  of  every  child  in 
Christendom.  His  childhood  spent  in  growth  "  in 
stature,  in  wisdom,  in  favor  with  God  and  man  " ; 
His  long  preparation  for  three  short  years  of  service ; 
His  ministry  to  man  in  healing  the  sick,  opening  the 
eyes  of  the  blind,  unstopping  deaf  ears,  cleansing 
lepers,  making  the  halt  and  the  cripple  to  walk,  de- 
nouncing hypocrisy,  rebuking  evildoers,  eating  with 
publicans  and  sinners;  His  attitude  towards  the 
Sabbath  day,  towards  marriage,  towards  rulers  in 
authority,  towards  little  children,  towards  His 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     297 

enemies ;  His  teaching,  by  precept  and  example,  of 
the  lessons  of  humility,  service,  sincerity,  and  love 
-  love  for  God  and  love  for  man,  for  his  brother  and 
his  neighbor :  these  are  all  moral  lessons  which  rise 
above  creed  and  make  Him  an  example  and  an  in- 
spiration to  youth  always  and  everywhere. 

Influence  of  the  Bible  upon  civilization.  —  It 
would  unduly  lengthen  this  chapter  to  specify  the 
helpful  passages  and  incidents  that  might  well  be 
taken  from  the  Bible  to  give  moral  instruction  void 
of  offense  to  child,  teacher,  or  parent.  It  is  in  place, 
however,  to  be  reminded  of  the  fact  that  the  Bible 
has  been  the  concomitant  and  usually  the  inspiration 
of  the  great  forward  steps  the  civilized  nations  have 
taken  since  the  advent  of  Christ.  One  may  find  the 
proof  of  this  statement  in  the  best  architecture  of 
the  world  today  —  its  churches,  temples,  and  ca- 
thedrals ;  in  the  art  galleries  of  Europe  and  America, 
with  their  masterpieces  of  Christian  conception ;  in 
the  sacred  hymns,  cantatas,  and  oratorios  compris- 
ing the  best  which  music  knows  today;  in  the  dig- 
nity of  Christian  womanhood  as  contrasted  with  the 
degradation  of  woman  in  lands  not  yet  under  its  in- 
fluence ;  in  the  recognition  of  children's  rights  and 
the  dominant  place  they  occupy  among  all  Christian 
peoples  ;  and  in  the  increasing  tendency  of  the  strong, 
the  rich,  and  the  fortunate  to  bear  the  burdens  of 
the  weak,  the  poor,  and  the  unfortunate  in  Europe 
and  America.  Where  the  Bible  goes  art  is  inspired, 
education  is  encouraged,  asylums  spring  up,  marriage 
becomes  a  sacrament,  woman  becomes  man's  equal, 
and  children  are  accorded  a  central  place  in  parental 
affection  and  family  life. 


2Q8    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

Its  teaching  and  influence,  especially  those  of  the 
New  Testament,  all  tend  towards  the  purest  of 
domestic  relationships,  a  mutually  helpful  relation 
between  masters  and  servants,  a  proper  use  of 
money,  due  obedience  to  the  state  and  its  civil  rep- 
resentatives, and  the  promotion  of  every  wise  form 
of  benevolent,  philanthropic,  and  humanitarian  work 
which  social  needs  suggest.  Whatever  differences  in 
creed  may  find  their  basis  in  its  teachings,  its  moral 
precepts  and  social  mandates  scarcely  admit  more 
than  one  interpretation.  In  no  other  book  that  has 
yet  appeared  is  there  anything  like  the  material  in 
parable,  illustration,  story,  commandment,  and  per- 
sonal example  making  clear  the  moral  relationships  of 
man  to  man.  Viewed  from  the  moral  standpoint 
alone  the  whole  Bible  is  an  affirmative  answer  to 
Cain's  indignant  question,  "  Am  I  my  brother's 
keeper  ?  "  Since  it  is  inconceivable  that  any  rational 
mind  could  wish  evil  for  itself,  the  social  and  moral 
obligation  imposed  upon  every  one  is  well  expressed 
in  its  words  which  for  generations  have  been  rightly 
considered  the  golden  rule  of  conduct:  "Whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them." 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Account  for  the  fact  that  the  Bible  was  the  "best 
seller"  of  all  the  books  published  last  year. 

2.  Estimate  the  influence  the  Bible  has  had  upon  the 
fine  arts. 

3.  Discuss  the  influence  of  the  Bible  upon  the  writings 
of  Longfellow,  Bryant,  Whittier,  Lew  Wallace,  Tennyson, 
Browning,  Milton,  Bunyan,  Shakespeare. 


MORAL  EDUCATION  THROUGH  THE  BIBLE     299 

4.  Compare   the   moral   teachings   of  the    Bible   with 
those  of  the  sacred  writings  of  Confucius ;    the  Koran. 
Think  of  their  relative  bearings  upon  the  status  of  women ; 
of  children ;  the  poor. 

5.  Characterize  Jesus  as  a  Teacher,  considering: 

a.  His  preparation. 

b.  His  method. 

c.  His  most  significant  teachings. 

d.  His  personal  example. 

e.  His  influence  upon  the  history  of  the  world. 

6.  Find   biblical   characters,   incidents,    and   teachings 
that  may  well  be  used  in  showing 

a.  Friendship. 

b.  Paternal  affection. 

c.  Filial  devotion. 

d.  Obedience. 

e.  The  dangers  of  drunkenness. 
/.    The  rewards  of  industry. 

g.   Indignation  at  evildoing. 
h.  The  test  of  neighborliness. 
i.    The  beauty  of  forgiveness. 
j.    The  spirit  of  humility. 

7.  Consult  some  good  book  on  "How  to  Tell  Stories 
to  Children"  for  suggestions  on  telling  Bible  stories. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

ADLER,  FELIX:  Moral  Instruction  of  Children.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 
ATHEARN,  WALTER  S. :  The  Church  School.  The  Pilgrim  Press. 
COE,  GEORGE  ALBERT  :  Education  in  Morals  and  Religion. 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Co. 
GALLOWAY,  T.  W. :  The  Use  of  Motives  in  Teaching  Morals  and 

Religion.     The  Pilgrim  Press. 
HORNE,  H.  H. :   Psychological  Principles  of  Education :  chapter 

xxxn,    Religious   Education   in   the    Public    School;     and 

chapter  xxxiv,   The  Text-Book   of  Religious   Education. 

Macmillan  Co. 
PAINTER,  F.  V.  N. :    Introduction  to  Bible  Study.     Benj.  H. 

Sanborn  &  Co. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

MORAL  LESSONS  FROM  THE  EUROPEAN 
WAR 

The  value  of  physical  preparedness. --The  war 

has  taught  the  American  people  a  number  of  lessons 
— political,  industrial,  economic,  and  educational  — 
and  some  of  them  are  distinctly  moral  in  their 
bearings.  The  first  is  this :  Physical  preparedness 
as  truly  as  military  preparedness  must  go  hand  in 
hand  with  love  of  country  and  devotion  to  humani- 
tarian ideals  and  impulses  in  order  to  make  the 
latter  effective.  The  recent  examination  of  con- 
scripts throughout  the  country  has  resulted  in  the 
rejection,  by  the  examining  boards,  of  numbers 
varying  from  fifteen  to  sixty-five  per  cent.  The 
size  of  the  army  of  the  physically  unfit  is  almost 
appalling.  It  is  a  serious  reflection  upon  our  schools 
and  the  results  they  get  in  physical  education.  It  is 
already  causing  thoughtful  school  men  and  women 
everywhere  to  take  an  inventory  of  their  courses  and 
methods  in  physical  training  to  find,  if  possible,  how 
they  can  make  them  more  helpful  to  the  youth  of  the 
land. 

As  some  one  has  said  in  substance,  there  is  not 
much  to  choose  between  the  man  who  can  serve  his 
country  when  it  calls,  but  will  not,  and  the  man  who 
would  serve,  but,  when  the  crisis  comes,  finds  that 

300 


LESSONS    FROM   THE   EUROPEAN   WAR     301 

because  of  his  neglect  of  himself  or  his  earlier  sins 
against  his  own  body  he  can  not  serve.  In  either 
case  the  country  goes  without  a  defender.  The 
loss  is  a  national  one.  If  patriotism  is  a  virtue 
to  be  fostered  and  cherished  by  every  citizen, 
becoming  and  keeping  physically  fit  to  make  one's 
patriotism  dynamic  is  a  duty  equally  incumbent  upon 
us  all.  To  be  able  and  willing  to  shoot  as  we  shout 
is  the  epigrammatic  statement  of  this  duty  as  recently 
phrased  by  a  most  distinguished  and  virile  patriot. 

Social  vice  can  be  made  unattractive.  —  Another 
lesson  which  the  war  is  teaching  anew  is  that  social 
vice  must  and  can  be  made  unattractive  to  soldiers. 
In  the  past  it  has  sometimes  happened,  in  both 
Europe  and  America,  that  armies  have  been  deci- 
mated more  by  venereal  disease  than  by  bullets  and 
bayonets.  In  a  pamphlet  on  "  Prostitution  in 
Relation  to  the  Army  on  the  Mexican  Border,"  so 
eminent  an  authority  as  Dr.  M.  J.  Exner  makes  the 
statement  that  "  during  the  first  eighteen  months  of 
the  war,  one  of  the  great  powers  had  more  men  in- 
capacitated for  service  by  venereal  disease  contracted 
in  the  mobilization  camps  than  in  all  the  fighting  at 
the  front/'  Today  one  of  the  most  encouraging 
words  which  reach  American  homes  is  the  assurance 
of  General  Pershing  and  others  in  command  that 
vice  among  the  soldiers  is  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
and  that  parents  need  have  no  fear  that  their  sons 
will  come  back  home  after  the  war  diseased  and 
debilitated  from  their  own  immoral  indulgences 
while  in  service. 

Never  in  the  history  of  civilization  have  such 
elaborate  and  costly  preparations  been  made  by  a 


302    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

people  to  safeguard  and  protect  the  moral  integrity 
of  its  soldiers.  Never  before  has  a  government 
seemed  to  feel  so  keenly  its  responsibility  to  the  men 
in  service  for  eliminating  the  evils  with  which  armies 
have  hitherto  been  surrounded.  The  creation  of  a 
Federal  Commission  on  Training  Camp  Activities 
is  a  notable  step  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  gov- 
ernment's purpose.  Millions  of  dollars  have  been 
raised  by  popular  subscription  and  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  Army  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  Knights 
of  Columbus,  and  other  organizations  charged  with 
the  responsibility  of  providing  a  wholesome  environ- 
ment and  a  positive  program  of  safe  recreations  for 
enlisted  men. 

Music,  lectures,  reading  rooms  and  libraries,  box- 
ing, wrestling,  bayonet  exercises,  and  the  promotion 
of  every  sort  of  athletic  sport  and  hard  physical 
game  is  encouraged.  An  appeal  is  made  to 
competitive  instincts.  In  some  of  the  exercises 
everybody  must  take  part.  "  Squads  compete  with 
squads,  companies  with  companies,  regiments  with 
regiments,  brigades  with  brigades,  and  divisions 
with  divisions."  With  such  a  program  are  the 
leisure  hours  of  the  soldiers  filled,  and  by  such  a 
method  is  the  influence  of  vicious  resorts  effectually 
overcome.  A  further  result  of  this  army  program  is 
likely  to  be  an  extension  of  its  application  to  the 
solution  of  similar  problems  of  every  neighborhood 
in  times  of  peace.  It  is  not  enough  to  deplore  the 
appeal  which  certain  forms  of  evil  make  to  men  and 
boys,  but  safe  and  sane  substitutes  must  be  provided 
and  made  to  utilize  the  surplus  of  their  physical 
and  intellectual  energies.  Upon  an  unprecedented 


LESSONS    FROM   THE   EUROPEAN   WAR    303 

scale  is  the  world  learning  not  to  be  overcome  by 
evil,  but  to  overcome  evil  with  good.  The  lesson 
was  taught  a  long,  long  time  ago.  It  seems  now 
about  to  be  understood. 

Impetus  of  the  temperance  movement.  —  In  an- 
other chapter  of  this  book  reference  has  been  made 
to  the  new  impetus  given  the  temperance  movement 
by  the  war.  Although  the  movement  has  long  been 
spreading,  it  well  may  be  doubted  whether  twenty 
years  of  continued  peace  would  have  witnessed  its 
progress  at  home  and  abroad  to  the  extent  that  it 
has  grown  during  the  period  of  the  war.  While  the 
list  of  "  dry  "  states  has  been  steadily  increasing  for 
years,  the  action  of  Congress  in  amending  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  establishing 
national  prohibition  after  six  years,  subject  to 
ratification  by  the  separate  states  within  that 
period,  came  with  almost  precipitate  suddenness  as 
a  result  of  the  war. 

Whatever  the  extent  of  moral  results  from  the 
growth  of  the  temperance  and  prohibition  move- 
ment, it  must  be  admitted  that  one  of  the  biggest 
factors  operating  to  hasten  it  is  the  economic  one. 
The  unprecedented  demands  of  the  Entente  allies  for 
food  supplies  that  could  be  furnished  only  by  the 
United  States;  the  necessity  for  food  conservation 
here  to  supply  those  demands;  the  governmental 
regulation  of  the  meat,  wheat,  and  sugar  consumption 
of  the  people — all  tended  to  make  thoughtful  people 
see  the  absurdity  of  using  millions  of  bushels  of  our 
grain  supply  in  the  making  of  alcoholic  drinks  when 
such  heroic  measures  were  made  necessary  to  keep 
our  allies  from  positive  suffering  if  not  from  actual 


304    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

starvation.  The  lesson  learned,  though  imposed  by 
the  crisis  of  war,  will  not  be  wholly  forgotten  even 
when  peace  comes. 

Decorations  for  personal  bravery.  —  It  is  popularly 
supposed  that  war  brutalizes  the  individual  soldier, 
and  dulls  his  finest  feelings  and  instincts.  But  this 
war,  like  others  that  have  preceded  it,  just  as  truly 
affords  the  opportunity  for  an  exercise  of  some  of 
the  highest  and  holiest  impulses  that  men  may  have. 
"  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this  —  that  he 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friend/'  With  all  its  horrors 
the  battlefield  is  daily  exhibiting  scores  of  examples 
of  men  of  heroic  mold.  Their  forgetfulness  of  self, 
their  willingness  to  make  any  sacrifice,  even  of  life 
itself,  in  volunteer  service  to  save  another  man,  is 
one  of  the  finest  results  of  every  battle. 

For  hundreds  of  years  the  world  has  delighted  to 
tell  the  story  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  who  is  said  to  have 
pushed  aside  the  proffered  cup  of  water  while  he 
was  lying  feverish  and  wounded  upon  the  field  of 
battle,  in  favor  of  a  dying  soldier  because,  as  Sir 
Philip  said,  "  Thy  need  is  greater  than  mine."  But 
this  story  pales  into  insignificance  when  compared 
with  many  of  the  deeds  of  heroism,  whether  noted, 
or  unknown  to  the  world,  that  make  up  a  part  of 
every  day's  program  in  the  present  war  zone. 

The  French  have  long  recognized  distinguished 
valor  and  unusual  exhibitions  of  bravery  by  con- 
ferring the  "  croix  de  guerre  "  upon  those  who  merit 
it.  The  British  have,  in  like  manner  conferred  the 
simple  Victoria  Cross,  with  its  modest  motto, 
"  For  Valor,"  as  the  most  honored  and  coveted 
military  decoration  in  the  world.  Lately  the  United 


LESSONS   FROM   THE   EUROPEAN   WAR      305 

States  has  seen  fit  to  give  similar  recognition  to  its 
heroes.  Almost  daily  dispatches  tell  the  story  of 
American  soldiers,  some  of  them  privates,  upon 
whom  the  French  or  the  British  have  conferred 
these  badges  of  honor  for  "  distinguished  service  " ; 
and  it  would  be  difficult  to  estimate  the  moral  in- 
fluence of  these  deeds  —  deeds  of  "  supermen,  who 
without  a  thought  of  self,  dash  into  the  fiery  blast 
to  save  a  stricken  comrade,  or  who  strike  a  ringing 
blow  for  their  cause  under  the  jaws  of  horrid  death, 
whose  hands  are  stretched  out  to  clutch  them/'1 

Unity,  cooperation,  sacrifice,  and  service  promoted. 
—  One  of  the  obvious  moral  fruits  of  the  war,  and 
one  the  most  important  of  all,  is  the  development 
within  the  nations  involved  of  a  spirit  of  unity,  of 
cooperation,  of  sacrifice  and  service,  of  devotion  to  a 
lofty  purpose  and  noble  cause  that  was  largely  un- 
known before  the  war  began.  Men  are  forgetting 
their  differences  of  creed,  of  politics,  of  social  stand- 
ing, of  culture,  of  economic  status,  and  finding  their 
common  brotherhood.  The  appeals  for  Red  Cross 
funds,  for  Y.  M.  C.  A.  support,  for  Belgium,  for  the 
Armenians,  for  the  purchase  of  Liberty  Loan  Bonds, 
for  food  conservation,  are  all  striking  responsive 
chords  in  hearts  that  beat  as  one.  When  side  by 
side  with  capitalists  and  wealthy  corporation  heads 
who  invest  their  millions  in  bonds,  the  day  laborer 
in  shop  and  factory,  the  bookkeeper  and  stenog- 
rapher in  the  office,  newsboys  from  the  street,  and 
widows  with  their  mite  make  personal  sacrifice  to 
buy  a  single  bond  from  a  sense  of  duty,  there  is 

1  Michael  McDonagh,  The  Irish  at  the  Front,  page  130. 


306    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

evidence  enough  that  the  fires  of  patriotism  are 
still  burning  upon  the  altar  of  this  country. 

Revival  of  religion.  —  But,  more  than  that,  there 
is  abundant  evidence  that  the  war  is  even  bringing 
about  a  revival  of  religion  throughout  Europe  and 
America.  In  a  recent  magazine  article  Washington 
Gladden  quotes  Dr.  Eliot  as  saying  at  the  Andover 
commencement  that  he  felt  "  that  the  underlying 
cause  of  the  war  was  that  no  church  has  succeeded 
in  setting  forth  to  the  world  an  adequate  conception 
of  Almighty  God."  Whatever  the  truth  in  this 
statement,  it  is  comforting  to  know  that  nations 
and  men  who  had  forgotten  God  are  now  sponta- 
neously turning  to  him,  and  finding  him  through 
obedience  to  the  teachings  of  sacrifice,  service,  and 
self-denial  enjoined  by  Christ  himself,  the  completest 
revelation  of  God  the  world  has  yet  known. 

John  R.  Mott,  after  months  spent  in  the  war  zones 
of  Europe,  in  observation  of  conditions  and  inter- 
views with  high  civil  and  military  authorities,  was 
impressed  with  the  quickened  religious  spirit  of  the 
European  people  and  the  breaking  down  of  the 
sectarian  barriers  separating  them.  In  his  address 
before  the  N.  E.A.  in  New  York,  G.  Stanley  Hall 
related  the  fact  that  "  a  grandson  of  Pasteur,  also  a 
literary  star,  who  died  heading  a  charge  on  the 
Marne,  left  behind  him  a  book  sold  and  read  every- 
where, urging  that  no  man  can  be  a  mature,  com- 
plete man  who  is  not  a  -Christian,  and  that  every 
true  Christian  is  a  soldier,  and  every  true  soldier  a 
Christian,  because  both  consist  in  finding  something 
the  individual  would  die  for  if  called  to  do  so." 
In  the  same  address  he  quoted  Bergmann  as  saying 


LESSONS    FROM   THE   EUROPEAN   WAR     307 

that  "  the  chief  culture  effect  of  the  war  in  Germany 
is  the  development  of  deep  and  strong  religious 
feeling,  and  that  the  student  soldier  who  went  out 
with  Nietzsche  in  his  knapsack  now  reads  the  New 
Testament,  the  sale  of  which  has  immensely  in- 
creased." 

One  of  the  clearest  statements  of  the  change  that 
has  come  throughout  Europe  and  of  the  larger  place 
given  to  religion  in  men's  lives  as  a  result  of  the  war 
is  that  with  which  H.  G.  Wells  makes  his  principal 
character  to  conclude  his  meditations  in  Mr.  Britling 
Sees  It  Through.  When  it  is  remembered  that  Mr. 
Britling's  own  .son  lost  his  life  in  the  war,  the  reader 
is  better  prepared  to  appreciate  the  following : 

"Religion  is  the  first  thing  and  the  last  thing,  and 
until  a  man  has  found  God  and  been  found  by  God,  he 
begins  at  no  beginning,  he  works  to  no  end.  He  may 
have  his  friendships,  his  party  loyalties,  his  scraps  of 
honor.  But  all  these  things  fall  into  place  and  life  falls 
into  place  only  with  God.  Only  with  God.  God  who 
fights  through  men  against  Blind  Force  and  Night  and 
Non-Existence ;  who  is  the  end,  who  is  the  meaning.  He 
is  the  only  King.  .  .  .  Of  course  I  must  write  about  Him. 
I  must  tell  all  my  world  of  Him.  And  before  the  coming 
of  the  true  King,  the  inevitable  King,  the  King  who  is 
present  whenever  just  men  foregather,  this  bloodstained 
rubbish  of  the  ancient  world,  these  puny  kings  and  tawdry 
emperors,  these  wily  politicians  and  artful  lawyers,  these 
men  who  claim  and  grab  and  trick  and  compel,  these 
war-makers  and  expressors,  will  presently  shrivel  and 
pass  —  like  paper  thrust  into  a  flame.  .  .  ." 

Then  after  a  time  he  said : 

"Our  sons  who  have  shown  us  God.  .  .  ." 


308    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

While  the  roots  of  the  war  are  usually  asserted 
to  be  in  the  historic  ambitions  and  racial  and  national 
differences  of  the  nations  contending,  scholars  have 
been  wont  to  find  its  philosophic  causes  in  the  pro- 
fessorial teachings  of  such  men  as  Treitschke,  who 
long  ago  declared  that  it  is  an  inexorable  law  of 
nature  that  "  the  strong  should  triumph  over  the 
weak,"  and  in  the  writings  of  Nietzsche,  who 
taught  that  "  might  makes  right,"  a  doctrine  all 
too  pleasing  to  the  Prussian  aristocracy  and  the 
imperial  house  of  the  Hohenzollerns. 

Clearly  this  doctrine  has  overleaped  itself,  and 
its  antidote  is  being  found  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  and  the  teaching  and  life  of  Him  who  taught 
that  life  means  both  sacrifice  and  service,  and  that 
bearing  one  another's  burdens  is  the  highest  duty  of 
nations  as  well  as  men. 

The  opportunity  of  the  school,  as  well  as  the 
church,  was  never  so  great  as  it  is  now.  In  spite  of 
the  hymns  of  hate  that  may  be  sung  while  the  war 
lasts,  when  the  nations  now  at  war  have  purged 
themselves  of  their  several  degrees  of  selfishness  and 
greed,  when  the  baptism  by  fire  and  blood  and  tears 
has  done  its  work,  the  schools  must  be  ready  to  do 
their  part  in  the  period  of  reconstruction.  Their 
influence  must  be  felt  from  the  elementary  grades 
on  up.  They  can  never  again  be  so  much  aloof  from 
life  as  they  have  been  heretofore.  The  grammar 
grades  and  high  schools- will  continue  to  stress,  as 
they  are  now  beginning  to  do,  the  mutual  relation- 
ships of  life  —  community,  nation,  and  world. 
Civics,  economics,  and  ethics  must  all  be  taught  in 
relation  to  history  and  the  domestic  and  industrial 


LESSONS    FROM   THE   EUROPEAN  WAR    309 

arts  and  sciences  of  the  present  day.  In  so  doing 
we  may  hope  that  there  will  be  an  increased  develop- 
ment in  the  men  and  women  of  a  new  generation,  of 
the  moral  judgment  and  the  ethical  will,  and  a 
hastening  of  the  coming  of  "  the  Parliament  of 
man,  the  Federation  of  the  world/' 

New  work  of  the  schools.  —  It  is  already  certain 
that  a  period  of  reconstruction  and  readjustment, 
both  within  and  between  the  nations  involved,  must 
follow  the  war.  The  isolation  of  the  United  States 
is  gone  forever.  It  has  become  not  only  a  world- 
power  but  a  world-leader.  It  must  henceforth 
recognize  that  its  destiny,  for  weal  or  woe,  is  in- 
exorably bound  up  with  that  of  the  European  na- 
tions, perhaps  with  all  other  nations  of  the  world  as 
well.  International  relationships  must  be  cultivated. 
These  will  involve  the  active  agencies  of  business, 
politics,  school,  and  church,  each  of  which  must 
bear  a  part  of  the  burden  of  making  the  necessary 
changes.  Out  of  it  all  is  coming  a  new  social  order, 
moral  in  its  essence,  from  which  the  common  man 
must  emerge,  more  broadly  democratic,  more 
tolerant,  more  intelligent,  more  disposed  to  look 
beneath  the  surface,  and  to  recognize  and  pay  trib- 
ute to  those  qualities  in  men  and  nations  which 
are  elemental  and  fundamental.  In  one  respect,  at 
least,  the  effect  of  the  war  will  be  not  unlike  that  of 
the  great  crusades  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  —  men's  minds  and  souls  are  growing 
larger  to  take  in  the  larger  world  they  have  found. 


310    MORAL  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  HOME 

QUESTIONS  AND  SUGGESTIONS 

1.  Show  the  relation  between  physical  preparedness  and 
success  in  war. 

2.  Justify    the    common    assertion    that    the    war    is 
resulting  in  a  development  of  the  spirit  of  unity  and  of 
brotherhood,  both  among  the  peoples  of  our  nation,  and 
between  them  and  those  of  other  nations  as  well. 

3.  Show  the  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  religion  of  the 
peoples  engaged  in  it. 

4.  Discuss  the  influence  of  Treitschke;    of  Nietzsche. 

5.  Make  clear  the  extent  to  which  you  believe  the  war 
has  promoted 

a.  Thrift. 

b.  Industry. 

c.  Sympathy. 

d.  Hatred. 

e.  Love  for  man. 
/.  Patriotism. 

g.    Temperance. 
h.    Sex  morality. 

REFERENCES  FOR  FURTHER  READING 

BARRY,  W. :     Return  of  Religion.     Nineteenth   Century,  July, 

1917. 
FOSDICK,   HARRY   EMERSON:    The   Challenge   of  the   Present 

Crisis.     Westminster  Press. 
GANNETT,  REV.  DR.  WILLIAM  C. :     A  New  Estimate  of  the 

Spiritual  Gains  of  the  War.     Current  Opinion,  July,  1917. 
GERARD,  JAMES  W. :    My  Four  Years  in  Germany.     George  H. 

Doran. 

HILL,  DAVID  JAYNE  :  The  Rebuilding  of  Europe.     Century  Co. 
VAN  DYKE,  HENRY  C. :     Fighting  For  Peace.     Scribner's. 
WELLS,  H.  G. :     Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through.     Macmillan  Co. 
WISTER,  OWEN  :    The  Pentecost  of  Calamity.     Macmillan  Co. 
WOOD,  H.  G. :    War  and  Religion.     Living  Age,  February  24. 

1917. 


INDEX 


Acts,  moral,  significance  of  personal 

examples,  96 
Aim,  modern,  must  be  composite, 

H 

moral,  not  chief  aim,  162 
Altruism,     practical     methods     of 

developing,  24 

Altruistic,  vs.  egoistic  feelings,  24 
Angell,  29 
Appearance,  personal,  influence  of 

the  teacher's,  148 
Aristotle,  194 
Arnold  of  Rugby,  47 
Art,  Caffin's  view  on,  157 
for  life's  sake,  154 
Ruskin's  view  on,  155 
Art   education    and    morality,    ch. 

xi 
what  makes  it  moral,  148 

Barton,  Clara,  108 

Betts,  34 

Bible,  the,  as  literature,  283 

influence    of,    upon    civilization, 
297 

influence  of,  upon  literature,  283 

Jacob  cycle,  291 

made  vital,  107 

moral  education  through,  ch.  xx 

mutual  relationships,  289 

neighborliness,  290 

possible  uses  of,  285 

practical   objections   to   the   use 
of,  in  school,  285 

respect  for  parents,  286 

wisdom,  importance  of,  286 


Biography,  appeal  to  children,  105 

morals  through,  ch.  vm 
Biology,  suggestions  from,  70 
Bonaventure,  lesson  from,  42 
Boy  Scouting  as  a  factor  in  moral 

training,  ch.  xvin 
as  an  example  of  expression  in 

education,  264 
illustrations    of    "good     turns," 

261 

influence  of  leader,  266 
recognition  of  the  movement  by 

the  N.  E.  A.,  257 
statement  of  aims,  258 
Buisson,  Ferdinand,  19 
Burbank,  Luther,  in 

Character,  a  by  product,  9 
Character  building,  the  end  of  edu- 
cation, 14 

Chauvinism  to  be  avoided,  100 
Child,  a,  lesson  learned  from,  107 
Childs,  George  W.,  128 
Citizenship  as  an  end  of  education, 

13 

Coleridge,  168 
Cooperation   between   schools   and 

other  educative  agencies,  256 
of  social  forces  necessary,  2 
Courtesy,  210 
Current     events,     moral     training 

through,  ch.  ix 

Daily  papers,  131 
Disciplinarian,  good,  popular  esti- 
mate of,  59 


3I2 


INDEX 


Discipline,  a  difficult  process,  69 
as  a  means  to  an  end,  57 
good,  the  best  guarantee  of,  60 
good,  what  constitutes,  59 
moral  education  through,  school, 
ch.  v 

Domsie  of  Drumtochty,  44 

Earnings   and   occupations  of  stu- 
dents, 235 

Edison,  Thomas,  112 
Education,  financial  value  of,  231 
Efficiency,  128 
Emotional  life,  modern  theory  of, 

22 

Ethics,  professional,  211 
European  War,  the,  moral  lessons 

from,  ch.  xxi 
unity,  cooperation,  sacrifice,  and 

service  promoted,  305 
Exner,  Dr.  M.  J.,  301 

Fidelity,  211 

Froebel,  influence  of,  196 

Froude,  98 

Gardening,  school  and  home,  228 
Golden  Rule,  288 
Grenfell,  Doctor,  116 
Griggs,  158 

Habit  formation,  laws  of,  30 
Habits,    moral    and    hygienic,    fos- 
tered, 203 

of  a  moral  sort,  establishing  of,  27 
Hall,  G.  Stanley,  71 
Handicaps,  112 

Health  in  relation  to  thrift,  232 
Herbartians,  the,  14 
Heroes  in  unromantic  walks,  121 
History,  American,  moral  involved 

in,  94 

morality  through,  ch.  vn 
Lecky's  stress  on  the  moral  as- 
pects of,  97 


History,  American  —  Continued 
-teaching,  patriotism  an  outcome 

of,  98 

Hodge,  Clifton  H.,  174 
Honesty,  210 
Honor,  personal,  to  be  developed, 

247 

Home,  H.  H.,  26 
Household  budgets,  230 
Hubbard,  Elbert,  40 
Hughes,  James  L.,  199 
Huntington,  n 
Huxley,  164 
Hyde,  41 

Ideal,  the  educational,  ch.  n 

Industriousness,  211 

Industry,  213 

Initiative,  212 

Instinct,    the    place    of,    in    moral 

training,  25 
Interest  in  moral  education,  revival 

of,  i 
Interest  of  the  child,  approach  to 

the,  86 
International   spirit,   America   and 

the,  1 02 

James,  28 

-Lange  theory,  23 
Jesus  as  a  teacher,  296 
Judgment,  moral,  opportunity  Tor 
the  exercise  of,  90 

Kant,  14 

Keller,  Helen,  45,  115 

Kirkpatrick,  E.  A.,  26 

Labor,  a  fortification   against  vice, 

189 
Life,  what  ma'kes  it  significant,  121 

Mann,  Horace,  47 
Manual  training,    appeal    to    chil- 
dren, 182 


INDEX 


313 


Manual  training — Continued 
meaning  of  phrase  as  used,  179 
moral    instruction    through,    ch. 

XIII 

McTurnan  on  personality,  49 

Measurements,  16 

Money,    relation    of,    to    spiritual 

values,  220 

Moral  requirements,  basic,  209 
Morality  code,  national,  213 
Motion  pictures  and  morals,  ch.  xix 

experience  of  one  city  in  solving 
the  problem  of,  270 

-habit  in  relation  to  thrift,  221 

second     experiment    in     solving 
problem  of,  271 

third  experiment  in  solving  prob- 
lem of,  274 

types  of,  269 
Mott,  John  R.,  306 
Music  and  discipline,  138 

and  patriotism,  138 

and  worship,  139 

danger    of    intellectualizing    too 
much,  142 

in  penal  institutions,  141 

ministry  of,  ch.  x 

Plato  upon  the  place  of,  143 

psychologist's   attitude   towards, 

social  values  of,  134 

Nature  study,  accuracy  and  fidelity, 

167 

and  health,  167 
and     science,     moral     education 

through,  ch.  xn 
humane  spirit,  168 
in  relation  to  relaxation  and 

pleasure,  164 

law  and  order,  respect  for,  169 
medicine,  relation  to,  173 
truth,  regard  for,  165 
Nietzsche,  308 
Nightingale,  Florence,  113 


Oratorios,     great,     the     effect    of, 

140 
Origin  of  life,  shall  mothers  explain, 

242 
Outside  work,  crediting  of,  180 

Palmer,  George  Herbert,  39 

Pershing,  Gen.,  301 

Personal   examples  of  moral   acts, 

96 

Personality  defined,  49 
Pestalozzi's  method  of  developing 

sympathy,  127 

Phonograph,  function  of,  141 
Physical  culture  and  games,  moral 

education  through,  ch.  xiv 
Physical  preparedness,  30x3 
Pictures,  Landseer's,  151 
Millet's,  152 
Rembrandt's,  152 
Plato,  teachings  of,  194 
Play  and  a  physical  basis  for  moral- 
ity, 196 

as  a  revelation  of  character,  200 
Playgrounds,   supervised,   a  neces- 
sity, 204 
Psychology,  new,  influence  of,  193 

of  moral  education,  ch.  in 
Punctuality,  211 
Punishment,    corporal,    sometimes 

necessary,  67 
forms  of,  to  avoid,  68 
motives  must  be  considered,  62 
should    be    reformative,    not   re- 
tributive, 64 

should  be  suited  to  the  individ- 
uality of  the  child,  65 

Quintilian,  195 

Reading  and  literature,  moral  edu- 
cation through,  ch.  vi 
Reading,  influence  of  the  teacher's, 

75 
voluntary,  86 


3*4 


INDEX 


Reading,  moral  or  ethical,  82 
three  types  of,  77 
wholesome  literature,  80 

Red  Cross,  24,  34,  305 

Reformatories    first    to    see    moral 
values  of  work,  181 

Relationships,  moral,  writ  large  in 
the  pages  of  history,  91 

Religion  in  art,  153 
revival  of,  306 

Reproduction,      simple      biological 
facts  pertaining  to,  243 

Results,  intellectual,  measured,  16 

Riis,  Jacob,  115 

Ruskin,  51,  155 

Sacrifice,  305 
School,  duty  of,  220 

or  college,  the  best  thing  it  does, 

32 

Schoolroom,  influence  of,  149 
Schools,     modern,     train     for    life 

work,  208 
new  work  of,  309 
Science,  in  relation  to  Deity,  174 
Science,   reflex   influence   of  study 

of,  163 

Self-control  in  the  teacher,  impor- 
tance of,  63 
-reliance,  212 

-support,  moral  obligation  of,  188 
Search,  Preston,  38 
Service  chief  duty  of  man,  189 
Sex  .hygiene  for  early  adolescents, 

245 

instruction  in  relation  to  moral- 
ity, ch.  xvn 

some    generally    accepted    prin- 
ciples, 250 

Smoking,  habit  of,  211 
Socrates,  14 

Strong,  Doctor,  his  appeal  to  the 
honor  of  boys,  45 


Sunday  school,  strength  and  limi- 
tations of,  3. 

Tagore,  Rabindranath,  101 
Teacher,  moral  education  through 

example    and    personality    of, 

ch.  iv 

the  ideal,  39 
Teachers,  the  best,  as  seen  by  high 

school  students,  50 
Teamwork  and  moral  training,  201 
Temperance,  209 
Tests,  scientific,  16 
Thrift  and  school  savings,  226 

reasons  for  teaching,  219 
Thrift,  taught  by  use  of  biography, 

237 
teaching   of,    as   moral   training, 

ch.  xvi 

Thwing,  C.  F.,  38 
Tompkins,  Arnold,  I,  65 
Treitschke,  308 
Truthfulness,  210 
Tuition,  conscious  vs.  unconscious, 

Tuskegee,  a  lesson  from,  185 

Utilitarianism    a    present-day  con- 
cept, 13 

Victoria  Cross,  304 

Vocational     direction     in     Grand 

Rapids  schools,  209 
moral  education  through,  ch.  xv 

War  and  science,  173 
Washington,  Booker,  115 
Waste  paper  campaigns,  224 
Waste  products,  value  of,  223 
Will,  moral,  as  highest  expression 

of  moral  life,  33 
Willard,  Frances,  114 
Work,  ethics  of,  214 


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